Virgin of the Candelaria of Puno

Patrona del altiplano

In Puno, next to Lake Titicaca, the Virgin of Candelaria in February brings together one of the largest religious and cultural parties in America, registered by UNESCO as the Inmaterial Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Origin and history

The advocation comes from the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and Purification of Mary (2 February), arrived in Peru with the missionaries and widely spread in the Altoandines regions. In Puno, the cult is documented from the colonial period, linked first to an image venerated by miners and peasants and then to the church of San Juan Bautista.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the feast was integrating elements of Quechua and Aimara cultures - music, dances and ritual dresses - without losing their Christian center in the Eucharist and the procession of the image. The Virgin was crowned canonically in 1987, with the authorization of Saint Juan Pablo II, and in 2014 UNESCO registered its Festivity as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.