The Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the most striking modern building in Barquisimeto. Built between 1959 and 1969 to replace a colonial cathedral lost to repeated earthquakes, it is a sweep of curved concrete shells that looks at first glance more like a piece of mid-century sculpture than a place of worship. Inside, the roofline opens into long ribbed vaults and stained-glass slots that throw coloured light across the floor through the afternoon.
The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Barquisimeto and the focal point of the city's enormous Divina Pastora procession every January. Outside service hours you can wander in freely; even visitors with no interest in churches tend to stop and look at the ceiling.