Day Four - Mexico City, Basilica of Guadalupe

The original Basilica of Our Lady (the Antigua Basilica) dates from 1536 and still stands today. However, the structure weakened over the years and the massive congregation outgrew the modest-sized basilica. The altar was sculpted by Manuel Tolsá. 

Outside the Antigua Basílica is a statue of Juan Diego, who became the first indigenous saint in the Americas with his canonization in summer 2002. 

A new Basilica of Guadalupe (Nueva Basílica) was built between 1974 and 1976 by the Mexican architect Pedro Ramírez Vásquez (who also designed the Archaeological Museum in Mexico City). Built in a flamboyant '70s style, the new basilica looks more like a stadium than a church. But here the focus is not the architecture or history of the building, but the holy relic and services held here. It is in a circular shape so that the image of the apron can be seen by everybody inside it. The original miraculous apron containing the image of the Virgin hangs behind bullet-proof glass above the altar in the new basilica.