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Aug 31, 2023 - World

In photos: A glimpse of some of the most sacred sites for Latinos

Russell Contreras
El Santuario de Chimayó, a National Historic Landmark outside of Espanola, N.M.

El Santuario de Chimayó, a National Historic Landmark outside of Espanola, N.M. For two centuries, Hispanic and Native American pilgrims have sought help from what is believed to be healing sand at the sanctuary. Photo: Russell Contreras/Axios

The Santuario de Chimayó in New Mexico and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City were recently listed as some of the "100 Most Holy Places on Earth" by Patheos.com, a website dedicated to information about world religions.

Through the lens: Axios Latino examined those and other sacred sites in Latin America and the United States. See below for more images.

Pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on December 21, 2013.
Visitors at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on December 21, 2013. The shrine was built near the hill of Tepeyac, where Our Lady of Guadalupe is believed to have appeared to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Photo: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira in Colombia as the worlds largest underground Nativity Scene prepares for the Christmas season.
Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira in Colombia, the world's largest underground Nativity scene. Photo: Sebastian Barros/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The sun rises on the winter solstice, which marks the New Year of the Andean Indigenous people who celebrate the beginning of the year 5531, as seen from the temple of Kalasasaya at the archaeological site of Tiwanaku, about 70 km from La Paz, on June 21, 2023.
The ancient city of Tiwanaku in Bolivia, once the spiritual and political capital of the Tiwanaku Empire. The sun rises on the winter solstice, which marks the New Year of the Andean Indigenous people, as seen from the temple of Kalasasaya at Tiwanaku. Photo: Jorge Bernal /AFP via Getty Images
Parroquia de San Francisco de Asís in Real de Catorce, Mexico.
Parroquia de San Francisco de Asís in Real de Catorce, Mexico. Tens of thousands of people visit the secluded village to pay homage to the image of San Francisco de Asís, and ask it to help them solve their problems or to heal their ills. Photo: Russell Contreras/Axios
View of the altar of the wooden Church of Santa María de Loreto de Achao (built in 1730), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Achao on the island of Quinchao, Chiloe Island, Chile.
View of the altar of the wooden Church of Santa María de Loreto de Achao (built in 1730), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Achao on the island of Quinchao in Chiloé, Chile. The churches of Chiloé represent the physical and spiritual fusion between Indigenous and European cultures. Photo: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Sanctuary Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, Congonhas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A UNESCO World Heritage site, its Room of Miracles allows devotees to donate objects to give thanks for miracles. Photo: AGB Photo Library/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
General view of the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the Urubamba valley, seventy-two kilometres from the Andes city of Cusco, on February 15, 2023.
Machu Picchu, Peru. General view of the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the Urubamba valley, outside the Andes city of Cusco, on February 15, 2023. Photo: Carolina Paucar/AFP via Getty Images
Indigenous women take part in the 'Prayer for Rain' ceremony on the shore of Chicabal Lagoon, formed in the crater of an extinct volcano and considered by Mayan people as a sacred place, in San Martin Sacatepequez, Guatemala, on May 18, 2023.
Indigenous women take part in the "Prayer for Rain'" ceremony on the shore of Chicabal Lagoon, formed in the crater of an extinct volcano and considered by Mayan people to be the center of the universe, in San Martin Sacatepequez, Guatemala, on May 18, 2023. Photo: Johan Ordóñez/AFP via Getty Images
Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, Utuado, Puerto Rico. Taino civilisation, 13th century.
Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Cagüana, in Utuado, Puerto Rico, is known for its well-preserved ceremonial ball courts and petroglyph-carved monoliths of the Taíno people. Photo: DeAgostini/Getty Images
Ecuadorian Bryan Rosel and his wife Magdalena Llanque -who met more than a year ago through social media- kiss after getting married during a mass wedding ceremony where fifty couples got married at the shore of Lake Titicaca in the Aymara district of Acora in Puno, Peru, on August 20, 2022.
Lake Titicaca, on the border of Bolivia and Peru, is a sacred place for Indigenous people. Ecuadorian Bryan Rosel and his wife Magdalena Llanque kiss after getting married during a mass wedding ceremony where fifty couples got married at the shore of Lake Titicaca in the Aymara district of Acora in Puno, Peru, on August 20, 2022. Photo: Carlos Mamani/AFP via Getty Images
A man fishes under the warm light of sunrise at Lake Atitlán in August 2018, in Sololá Department, Guatemala.
A man fishes under the warm light of sunrise at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, a sacred place for the Maya, in August 2018, Photo: Victor Fraile/S3studio via Getty Images
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