Templo Votivo de Maipú, Santiago

This is an enormous building situated on the spot where the liberator Bernardo O'Higgins publically declared the Virgin del Carmen the patron saint of Chile, promising at the same time to erect a temple in her honour. The first of the walls were erected with the help of public donations, but with time they deteriorated until hardly anything was left of them. Construction started on today's church in 1944, and it was opened to the public in 1974. Various religious festivals take place here such as the Fiesta de Cuasimodo, the Fiesta del Huaso and, the most important of all, the Fiesta de la Virgin del Carmen on the 16th of July. Summer masses are at 7p Monday to Friday, 6p Saturdays, 10a-12p and 6p on Sundays. In winter they take place at 6:30p Monday to Friday, 6p Saturdays and 10a-12p and 6p on Sundays.

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