Devotees of the Virgin of Copacabana de Punta Corral have started planning celebrations for the bicentennial of her apparition, according to a March 30 announcement. Although nine years remain until the milestone, organizers are already considering how to mark this significant anniversary.
The upcoming bicentennial commemorates an event dating back to 1835, when Pablo Méndez, a shepherd from Jujuy, discovered a white stone bearing the image of the Virgin while tending animals in Estancia Vieja at over 4,250 meters above sea level. The site where Méndez made his discovery is about one hundred meters higher than where today’s chapel stands. Over time, a sanctuary was built further down so that pilgrims could reach it more easily.
Despite challenges such as distance, altitude, and temperature variations along the routes to the sanctuary, thousands make pilgrimages each year to express gratitude and prayers to what they call “Mamita del Cerro.”
The preparations for this historic occasion highlight both longstanding devotion and efforts by community members to honor their traditions as they approach two centuries since the original event.
