Santuario del Socavón

The Santuario del Socavón is Oruro's most important religious site, built into the hillside above the city and entered through a facade that rises from a former mine entrance. The shrine houses the miraculous image of the Virgen del Socavón, patron of Bolivian miners and the reason Carnaval de Oruro exists.

The church itself is a large, elaborately decorated Baroque structure. Beneath it, you can descend into the original mine shaft where the Virgin's image was found, now converted into a chapel. The walls of the tunnel are covered in ex-votos, offerings from miners and their families across three centuries.

The site is the focal point of the Carnaval procession. During carnival week, thousands of costumed dancers pass in front of the sanctuary and bow before the Virgin's image, completing an act of devotion that underpins the entire spectacle. Free to enter; the underground chapel involves a small fee.

things to do sight
A story
The Virgin of the Socavón is said to have appeared to a notorious bandit and Robin Hood figure named "Chiru Chiru" in a mine shaft in the early 18th century. He died immediately after the vision, reformed. The miraculous image was declared the patron of miners, and the shrine was built over the shaft where the vision occurred. The entire Carnaval de Oruro — the Diablada, the thousands of dancers — is an act of devotion to this one image.