The Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, known as the First Wonder of Colombia, is an architectural accomplishment as well as a religious landmark. It's near Bogota, so you can easily do a day trip from there, and is about 200 m below the ground and is part of the largest deposit of rock salt in the world.

Inside, you can find the biggest underground cross in the world, serving as a functioning church on Sundays to thousands of Catholics. This amazing monument opened to the public in 1995, but it was made by Muiscas (Pre-Columbian people that had been extracting salt from the mines in that area for trading with others, since the 5th century!). They built a church in the 1950s, but even before then, miners carved a little church and alters where they would say daily prayers and ask the patron saint of miners for safety.

The attraction isn’t just one big sanctuary underground. Every nave has beautiful sculptures carved by miners and sculptors. The cathedral is broken up into 14 small chapels connected by tunnels. Each chapel represents the stations of the cross, or Jesus Christ’s last journey before crucifixion. Another one of the main attractions is the mirrors of water, previously full of brine water (where the salt was saturated). The surroundings are illuminated by the reflection of the light on the water creating a fascinating optical effect of swimming in an underground cavern.

How to visit:

The open times are Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Sunday Mass at 1:00 pm. And there is an entrance fee: Between COP$17,000 and COP$27,000, depending on the number of attractions the visitor wants to see.

You'll need probably 1h to see it all. After you see the Cathedral, you can go to the Salt Park, of which the Salt Cathedral is a part, where you can take a miner’s tour and learn all about the process of extracting salt from the mines as well as the different geological properties of the area or take a tour the actual city of Zipaquira.

It's obviosly forbidden to take pets or food inside, and just remember you're in a sacred place.