This is the fourth building constructed, which was destroyed by 1910 quake. The reconstruction of the actual building began on 1912 by the engineer Luis Lach under the supervision of Storck. The construction took 12 to 14 years approximately, it has a Roman, Arabian and Greco forms, and it has Italian floors and 32 German windows made by Oitmanm Ars Vittrea. Among the representations on the windows are: Virgen de los Angeles, 15 pictures of the Holy " Vía Crucis" and more Marian motives. The bells weigh 900 kilograms and were brought from France and made by Pascard in Annecy.

At the bottom of the temple, there is a tower shaped altar, with more than 200 years old. It is wood covered with gold; this is the place where the Virgin is venerated. It has 4 cópulas that form a cross. In the front copula, there is Marie and baby Jesus, next to it San Miguel Archangel and 12 little angels around it. There are also two towers where the bells are and five exit doors, one main door, two on the side and two more as auxiliary doors.

Angels Virgin Legend:

There is a lot of tradition and legend surrounding this sacred Virgin. Víctor Lizano, a Costa Rican writer, describes this extraordinary story in his book "Tradition's Costarricenses" (Costa Rican Traditions). Our holy Saint was declared as Costa Rican Queen on 1824, under the leadership of Juan Mora Fernández (president at the time).

First Apparition of the Virgin:

There was a forest in which people used to pick up logs. Near the forest a humble, little girl used to do this simple chore. One day, in August 2nd, 1635; our little girl walked and picked up some logs as she usually do. And then she found a small stone image of a virgin carrying baby Jesus in her arms. She took the image and kept her on a chest at her house.

At noon, the girl got back to the place and for her surprise she found again the same image on the stone. She took it thinking it was a new one, but she got home and opened the chest to put it in; the other image was gone. She was scared but one more time went to the forest and found the image one more time. Again she took her home and found nothing but an empty chest. Now she decided to take the image to the priest, telling him about the marvelous situation around the image.

The priest, Alonso Sandoval, took the image and put it away to study it later on. The next day, the image was not in its place and for the girl surprise she found it again standing on the same stone. She ran and called the priest who came with more people. They took her back to the church in a sacred pilgrimage and put her on the altar. On the next day they looked for it to study the image and one more time it was gone. They ran to the stone and there she was. Since it was the fifth time, they decided that the Virgin wanted to stay there, so they began the construction of a small church while they could built a worthy temple for her.

 

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