Santa María la Antigua del Darién (Unguía, Chocó, Colombia)

Marian devotion

Where is he?

Santa María la Antigua del Darién is linked to the correction of Tanela and the Sanctuary, in the municipality of Unguía, department of Chocó, Colombia. The place conserves the archaeological and historical park of the old city and a Marian sanctuary attended in the context of the Diocese of Apartadó. OpenStreetMap allows to verify the location of Unguía, but does not offer in the consultation used the unambiguous geometry of the sanctuary or of the park; the marker is placed at 8.0412, -77.0934 with precision locality.

Documented history

The title is linked to the city of Santa María de la Antigua del Darién, founded in 1510 in the territory that today belongs to Colombia. The documentation of the Diocese of Apartadó explains that the chapel dedicated to St. Mary was elevated to the rank of cathedral when Pope Leo X created, in 1513, the diocese of St. Mary the Old of Darien, the first Catholic diocese on the firm land of the American continent according to the historical tradition collected by the diocese itself. In 1524 the headquarters was transferred to the city of Panama; the title continued there, but the original historical place was left in the Colombian Darién.

The same diocesan documentation distinguishes that history from contemporary construction. The shrine of Our Lady Santa Maria of the Antigua del Darién was opened on 15 August 1992 in Tanela, within the municipality of Unguía, on the occasion of the commemoration of the five hundred years of evangelization in America. The diocesan publication of 2018 describes the property, the chapel, the relationship with archaeological excavations and the approaches between the diocese and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

ICANH documents the location of the colonial city and the project of the Archaeological and Historical Museum of Santa María de la Antigua del Darién. His archaeological research places the site in the Sanctuary of Unguía and explains that the park protects a place of historical and heritage importance. The history of the city, the history of the diocese and the life of the present sanctuary are presented separately so as not to confuse archaeological ruins with a temple preserved since the 16th century.

Tradition

The Marian memory of the Darien conserves Santa Maria la Antigua as an advocation linked to the beginning of the Christian presence organized on the firm ground and to the pastoral continuity of the Diocese of Apartadó. The ninth diocesan presents her as a patron and requests her intercession for the families and for the Church of the Uraban-Darien. Contemporary pilgrimages keep the sanctuary together with the historical memory of the territory.

Legend

There is no local Marian apparition or miracle attributed to advocation with specific ecclesial approval. The foundation of the city, the creation of the diocese and the opening of the sanctuary are historical facts documented by institutional sources; they are not transformed into a supernatural account. Undocumented narrations are either as a tradition or as unobserved.

Ecclesial State

The state is recorded as permitted veneration in the limited sense of an advocation and a sanctuary integrated in the pastoral life of the Diocese of Apartadó. The diocese publishes the ninth, organizes pilgrimages and documents the opening of the 1992 sanctuary. This does not amount to approving an apparition or a miracle, for which there is no specific decree here.

Anecdotes and stories

The uniqueness of the place is in the coexistence of two memories: the archaeological, which studies the city founded in 1510, and the pastoral, which retains the sanctuary opened in 1992. The work of ICANH has incorporated indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities in the interpretation of the park, while the diocese maintains the pilgrimage and Marian prayer. No visitor figures or excavation details are added which the sources consulted do not clearly identify.

Prayer

Santa María la Antigua del Darién, Mother and intercessor of the peoples of the Urabá- Darién, pray for the communities of Unguía and for the Church of Apartadó. Help us to guard the memory, to respect those who inhabited this land and to build ways of reconciliation. Lead our prayers to Jesus Christ and teach us to serve with hope. Amen.

Sources

• Diocese of Apartadó, diocesan newspaper: history and opening of the sanctuary in Tanela, Unguía, on August 15, 1992.
• The Diocese of Apartadó, ninth to Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién.
• ICANH, project of the Archaeological and Historical Museum of Santa María de la Antigua del Darién.
• ICANH, museum space of the archaeological and historical park.
• OpenStreetMap / Nominatim, town of Unguía.

Documentary extension

The ninth diocesan presents the sanctuary as a place of pilgrimage, prayer and encounter with Christ. In her pastoral texts, Mary appears as an intercessor and the celebration is directed towards the sacramental life and follow-up of Jesus; therefore the devotion of St. Mary the Old is not described here as the worship of the image or as proof of a prodigy.

The ICANH documentation adds a different heritage dimension of devotion: the archaeological and historical park retains the memory of the old city and has a research project and a museum space opened in April 2019. The contemporary sanctuary of Tanela and the archaeological site should not be confused with the historic cathedral of the first diocese or the present Panamanian basilica. They are related places by an advocation and a history of transfers, but they are in different locations. This is why this tab keeps its own point in Unguía / Tanela and does not reuse the Panamanian tab.

The diocesan fountain is the opening of the Tanela shrine on 15 August 1992. The ninth conserves that date in the framework of the feast of the Assumption and calls for communities, young people and pilgrims. The celebration attests to local public veneration; it is not in itself a judgment of apparitions or miracles.