DAY 4 SEP 26, SUNDAY

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe)

[TIMINGS: new basilica: mon-sat 7am-7pm, sun 7-8pm; Capilla de Indios 10-5; ]

We did not want to go to Teotihuacan on a weekend... it's free for Mexicans as are other museums, we wanted to avoid crowds. We thought the Basilica will be a special experience on Sunday and Ubered there in the morning. [it's a 20 min ride and quite inexpensive at the time of the day.].

Old Basilica is closed for renovation and mass was going on in the new one.

The old Basilica opened in 1531, It attracts millions of visitors and worshipers each year, particularly during the Feast Day each December 12th.

Built adjacent to the hill where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared, the site consists of a complex of buildings overlooking a broad public square adorned with a number of interesting modern sculptures, including a large concrete cross with a unique clock and chime.

The new Basilica de santa Maria Guadalupe, built in 1976 is the most important temple of the Guadalupano Precinct , since it is the place where the Tilma de San Juan Diego is sheltered and displayed, in which the Sacred Image of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe is embodied. The new church is notable for its distinctive modern curved appearance.

MUSEUM

We bought tickets and visited the museum.

It was amazing. And no crowd to boot.

THE LEGEND

The legend goes that the Virgin Mary appeared four times to Juan Diego and once more to his uncle, Juan Bernardino. The first apparition occurred on the morning of Saturday, 9 December 1531 . identified herself as the Virgin Mary, "mother of the very true deity". She asked for a church to be erected at that site in her honor. Juan Diego sought the Archbishop of Mexico City, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, to tell him what had happened. Not unexpectedly, the Archbishop did not believe Diego.

Later the same day, Juan Diego again saw the young woman (the second apparition), and she asked him to continue insisting.

The next day, Sunday, December 10 , Juan Diego spoke to the Archbishop a second time. The latter instructed him to return to Tepeyac Hill and to ask the woman for a truly acceptable, miraculous sign to prove her identity. Later that day, the third apparition occurred when Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac; she consented to provide A SIGN on the next day (December 11)

By Monday, December 11 (Julian calendar), however, Juan Diego's uncle, Juan Bernardino, became ill, which obligated Juan Diego to attend to him.

In the very early hours of Tuesday, December 12 , Juan Bernardino's condition having deteriorated overnight, Juan Diego journeyed to Tlatelolco to get a Catholic priest to hear Juan Bernardino's confession and help minister to him on his deathbed.

To avoid being delayed by the Virgin and ashamed at having failed to meet her on Monday as agreed, Juan Diego chose another route around Tepeyac Hill, yet the Virgin intercepted him and asked where he was going (fourth apparition); Juan Diego explained what had happened and the Virgin gently chided him for not having made recourse to her. In the words which have become the most famous phrase of the Guadalupe apparitions and are inscribed above the main entrance to the Basilica of Guadalupe, she asked "¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?" ("Am I not here, I who am your mother?"). She assured him that Juan Bernardino had now recovered and told him to gather flowers from the summit of Tepeyac Hill, which was normally barren, especially in the cold of December. Juan Diego obeyed her instruction and he found Castilian roses, not native to Mexico, blooming there.

The Virgin arranged the flowers in Juan Diego's tilma, or cloak, and when Juan Diego opened his cloak later that day before Archbishop Zumárraga, the flowers fell to the floor, revealing on the fabric the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The next day, December 13 , Juan Diego found his uncle fully recovered as the Virgin had assured him, and Juan Bernardino recounted that he also had seen her, at his bedside (fifth apparition); that she had instructed him to inform the Archbishop of this apparition and of his miraculous cure; and that she had told him she desired to be known under the title of 'Guadalupe'.

Highlights include a splendid altarpiece dedicated to Mary in the 16th-century Old Basilica: This temple is the oldest in the Sanctuary, inside you can still see the foundations of the first hermitage dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe and that on December 26, 1531 received it.

Then we went round the compound which is very artistically landscaped with fountains, pools, staues etc.

Our pics were full of random people.

We decided we'll return another day. And we did. After Teotihuacan visit on Tuesday, we took the metro from the NORTH Terminal and enjoyed the whole campus with no crowd... YOU'LL HAVE TO SEE THE POST which wil follow the next one, to beleive!