File number: cqb0033

© South American Pictures/ Jason Howe

Colombia.   Sculpture of an angel in the new Zipaquirá salt cathedral.  The mine is in the Andes north of Bogotá at an altitude of 2,600m and has been mined since pre-hispanic times. Miners of the 19th century dedicated the mine to the Virgen del Rosario de Guasá. The first cathedral created in the 1930s was closed in 1990 when the structure became unsafe. The new athedral was built between 1991 - 1995. It is 120m below the surface and has an area of 8,550sq m.