Santuario Nacional Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles
Santuario Nacional Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles
Santuario Nacional Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles
4.5
About
This church is best known for the 1635 appearance of the country's patron saint, the Black Virgin. An annual pilgimage takes place in August.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Plan your visit
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
Restaurants
110 within 5 kms
Attractions
18 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
682 reviews
Excellent
414
Very good
210
Average
47
Poor
6
Terrible
5
LolaGo1
Washington DC, DC6,618 contributions
Nov 2022 • Solo
I took the 7:30 am electric train ride from San Jose to Cartago. The Train Station in San Jose is Estacion Atlantico located near the National Museum. The ride took about 50 minutes, then a short walk on Avenida 10 from the Train Station to the Basilica.
Both the outside facades and inside decorations are beautiful. I was able to take many pictures because there was no mass going on when I arrived. The running Spring waters are located towards the back of the church. I saw locals filling up their containers with this water and using their palms to drink it. I did the same!
In front of the church, folks are putting up the Christmas tree and some other decorations.
Highly recommended to visit and pray here. Train rides for 65 y/o and olders are FREE! Train services back to San Jose start at 3:45 p.m. After I finished visiting Cartago’s attractions, I took the 12:30 p.m. Lumaca Express bus for 680 colones. Note that the Bus Station is located next to the Train Station.
Both the outside facades and inside decorations are beautiful. I was able to take many pictures because there was no mass going on when I arrived. The running Spring waters are located towards the back of the church. I saw locals filling up their containers with this water and using their palms to drink it. I did the same!
In front of the church, folks are putting up the Christmas tree and some other decorations.
Highly recommended to visit and pray here. Train rides for 65 y/o and olders are FREE! Train services back to San Jose start at 3:45 p.m. After I finished visiting Cartago’s attractions, I took the 12:30 p.m. Lumaca Express bus for 680 colones. Note that the Bus Station is located next to the Train Station.
Written 28 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
E W
Montreal, Canada29 contributions
Sept 2023 • Family
Even kids enjoyed this. Stopped and bought a little vial to bring back some holy water. Beautiful church, the inside is golden in daytime hours and the outside is beautifully lit at night. We stopped to eat across the street. Sunday there was several masses so we did not walk around the inside of the church. Around the back you find the holy water site and around the other side the entrance to a small museum which is free and has a few interesting items including many of the silver body parts that people leave to ask for healing of that ailing part. The story of the negrita and building of the church is interesting.
Written 14 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dee
La Mesa, CA80 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
After reading about the story of La Negrita, we had to go and say our prayers. I cannot put the beauty of this bascillica into words and the power of the spirit could be felt as soon as I entered the doors. For reference, we are not Catholic. Regardless, we appreciated the sacred beauty of this place.
Written 2 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Around the World
Berlin, Germany614 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
We found this accidentally. It’s not so often that I give 5 points. I visited many churches and cathedrals around the globe and I don’t believe in God. So I only can say it’s looking so beautiful. Most of this looking similar but this is different. All looks like made of wood and all the small details are very detailed. Sadly couldn’t take pictures because there was an ongoing mass.
Written 18 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LaLaOntheRoad
New York City, NY291 contributions
May 2019 • Couples
Truly a magical place to go on a religious pilgrimage. The basilica is such a symbol of Costa Rican’s, their faith, and their pride. The story of the site of this church is beautiful. Many that go here to pray believe the water behind the church offers miracles and spiritual healing. Absolutely worth the trip here when visiting Costa Rica. Beautiful and inspiring place for all. It will leave your heart full.
Written 1 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nivea A
Los Angeles, CA44 contributions
Apr 2023
Must go here . We attended mass and we are non Christian but love Jesus and Mary . Such a wonderful and peaceful place . Must go behind to see the statue of La negrita and have some holy water . We filled two bottles in shape of statue to bring home .
Written 7 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Byron H
48 contributions
As one observer mentioned if you've seen a lot of foreign cathedrals there isn't anything particularly interesting or beautiful about this one. Presumably in order to avoid suffering the same fate as the nearby Catholic basilica (twice destroyed by earthquakes and now in ruins with no roof and a garden inside) there is extensive use of sheet metal and plywood rather than stone.
I felt saddened by the sight of the medals made out of silver? and purchased? by the impoverished sick. For example people who have a heart condition buy a heart made of silver and pay? to have it displayed to make their condition better.
The church also has a 'magical' story about a little girl finding a statuette in the woods in this spot and taking it home as a doll. 'Magically' it left the little girl in the middle of the night and came back to this spot over and over. (There are so many things wrong with this story....Why the middle of the night when she's sleeping? Why is she allowed to take it away at all? How did a magical statuette come about in the first place? Who made it? Questions that any rational modern day six year old would ask).
Also people sometimes drink water coming out of a drain pipe below the street that is said to be holy. I'm not making this up.
It really seems like the naive are being abused and taken advantage of. You can buy plastic bottles in the shape of a religious figure to put the water in.
Interesting to see more for the ritual aspects and to see people completely abandon reason and common sense, but I felt ashamed at seeing desperate people buying shiny metal representations of internal organs because that's what someone told them they had to do to get the attention of an invisible omni-present master overlord so he'd save their loved ones from death and disease.
I felt saddened by the sight of the medals made out of silver? and purchased? by the impoverished sick. For example people who have a heart condition buy a heart made of silver and pay? to have it displayed to make their condition better.
The church also has a 'magical' story about a little girl finding a statuette in the woods in this spot and taking it home as a doll. 'Magically' it left the little girl in the middle of the night and came back to this spot over and over. (There are so many things wrong with this story....Why the middle of the night when she's sleeping? Why is she allowed to take it away at all? How did a magical statuette come about in the first place? Who made it? Questions that any rational modern day six year old would ask).
Also people sometimes drink water coming out of a drain pipe below the street that is said to be holy. I'm not making this up.
It really seems like the naive are being abused and taken advantage of. You can buy plastic bottles in the shape of a religious figure to put the water in.
Interesting to see more for the ritual aspects and to see people completely abandon reason and common sense, but I felt ashamed at seeing desperate people buying shiny metal representations of internal organs because that's what someone told them they had to do to get the attention of an invisible omni-present master overlord so he'd save their loved ones from death and disease.
Written 31 December 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lavc555
Cartago, Costa Rica6 contributions
Jan 2020
I actually live really close this site and you can see lots of tourists every day, taking pictures, site seeing and learning.
Written 7 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
J. Antonio PA
Lopez Mateos, Mexico1,327 contributions
Nov 2019 • Friends
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels was a nice surprise.
This catholic temple is open for everyone, and is the National Shrine in Costa Rica.
The building is fairly new, and with an architectural design that resemble near East catholic temples that influence other such as the Venice temple of Saint Mark, hey, don’t be expecting that level of grandeur in any way, but just keen in mi d the resemblance.
I have to say the building in the inside is nicer than the outside, so try to go in, particularly with daylight to enjoy the stained glass work in the windows.
Do go.
This catholic temple is open for everyone, and is the National Shrine in Costa Rica.
The building is fairly new, and with an architectural design that resemble near East catholic temples that influence other such as the Venice temple of Saint Mark, hey, don’t be expecting that level of grandeur in any way, but just keen in mi d the resemblance.
I have to say the building in the inside is nicer than the outside, so try to go in, particularly with daylight to enjoy the stained glass work in the windows.
Do go.
Written 10 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rtacsan
Cartago, Costa Rica5 contributions
Aug 2019
Costa Rica is a very conservative country. On the foundations of this, catholicism is the pillar on which the majority of ticos (another way to call us costaricans) support their beliefs. The most important site of adoration for us is the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles "Our Lady of the Angels Basilica", which according to tradition its constructed over a particular site. According to legend, in 1635, a local very humble girl named Juana Pereira found this small figurine of the Virgin (La Negrita) holding baby Jesus over a riverstone. Juana took this figurine several times home after finding in the same spot on the riverstone when looking for firewood, but found that each time she took a new figurine to put it beside the one she took before, this one had disappeared.
She explained this to the local church community, who verified this behavior and determined that it this was a sign that the site should be a place of worship for the Virgin and his son. So, the Basilica stands over the Riverstone where this events where supposed to happen. Every 2nd of August, we have the national festivity of "Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles", and on the days prior to this, millions of pilgrims, who we call "romeros", walk from different places of Costa Rica and some even from neighboring countries to either thank the Virgin for something or to ask for a favor in return for their pilgrimage. It is estimated that nearly 2.5 million people make this pilgrimage each year, which we also call doing the "romería", which for a foreigner I would recommend as a very gratifying experience, whether you are a spiritual person or not. Most people do the "romería" on August 1st, but because there is so much people that day, some prefer to do it on the weekends prior or after the Holiday. If you want to enjoy the full experience, do it the 1st.
You can come anyday of the year to the Basilica, which doesn't ask for any fee to enter. I would recommend you to visit the interior of the church which has a very Costa Rican feel to it (remember our spaniard heritage), visit the Riverstone, which is under the Basilica, and also take a bottle to fill it with "holy water" from the natural water stream that came from the river, which is still running nowadays.
If you are going to Cartago, you can visit this place either before or after visiting other interesting sites this province has to offer, like Volcán Irazú, Volcán Turrialba, the Church on Orosí, the Cachí Dam, Ruins of Ujarras (destroyed colonial church), Sanatorio Durán, Prusia Forest, just to mention some. You will not regret it.
She explained this to the local church community, who verified this behavior and determined that it this was a sign that the site should be a place of worship for the Virgin and his son. So, the Basilica stands over the Riverstone where this events where supposed to happen. Every 2nd of August, we have the national festivity of "Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles", and on the days prior to this, millions of pilgrims, who we call "romeros", walk from different places of Costa Rica and some even from neighboring countries to either thank the Virgin for something or to ask for a favor in return for their pilgrimage. It is estimated that nearly 2.5 million people make this pilgrimage each year, which we also call doing the "romería", which for a foreigner I would recommend as a very gratifying experience, whether you are a spiritual person or not. Most people do the "romería" on August 1st, but because there is so much people that day, some prefer to do it on the weekends prior or after the Holiday. If you want to enjoy the full experience, do it the 1st.
You can come anyday of the year to the Basilica, which doesn't ask for any fee to enter. I would recommend you to visit the interior of the church which has a very Costa Rican feel to it (remember our spaniard heritage), visit the Riverstone, which is under the Basilica, and also take a bottle to fill it with "holy water" from the natural water stream that came from the river, which is still running nowadays.
If you are going to Cartago, you can visit this place either before or after visiting other interesting sites this province has to offer, like Volcán Irazú, Volcán Turrialba, the Church on Orosí, the Cachí Dam, Ruins of Ujarras (destroyed colonial church), Sanatorio Durán, Prusia Forest, just to mention some. You will not regret it.
Written 6 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Buenas noches. Me podrían decir si el 13 y 15 de setiembre del año en curso, estará abierta al publico la Basilica?
Written 2 August 2021
Buenas noches! Me gustaría saber a qué hora hay misa el domingo? Gracias.
Written 7 October 2015
Lunes 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m.
Martes 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m.
Miércoles 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m. Rosario Vocacional 3 p.m. en la Capilla del Santísimo.
Jueves 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m. Hora Santa 3 p.m.
Viernes 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 6 p.m.
Sábado 6 a.m. 9 a.m. 11 a.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
Domingo 6 a.m. 8 a.m. 9 a.m. 10 a.m. 12 m.d. 4 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 7 p.m.
Written 12 October 2015
Showing results 1-3 of 3
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing