Virgin de Los Angeles

A celebration of Costa Rica’s patron saint, also known as ‘La Negrita’, the black virgin. The legend around the 20cm tall statue of the Virgin Mary is that a native woman discovered it in 1635 but, by some otherworldly power, was unable to be move it. The townspeople therefore built a shrine around it and La Negrita now resides on a gold platform at the main altar in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. On August 2, the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims from every corner of the country walk the 22 km from San José to the basilica.