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All Mexico Xicotepec de Juárez Virgen Monumental de Xicotepec

Virgen Monumental de Xicotepec

This enormous statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe has become one of the world's most recent Catholic pilgrimage sites.

Xicotepec de Juárez, Mexico

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Before being completed, the workers at the Virgin’s feet give a sense of the statue’s scale.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
The Virgin sculpture and Celestial Cross (further uphill).   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
Detail of the statue while still being painted.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
The statue is a bit less imposing from the downtown’s market-covered streets.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
Vista of Xicotepec and the mountains of Puebla’s Northern Sierra from the viewing platform.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
The viewing platform around the statue.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
View from the uphill Cruz Celestial. From this cross, the back of the Virgin statue can be seen at the lower center.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
Virgin of Guadalupe with its accompanying church and a full moon.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
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Mexico's most-venerated religious figure is the subject of this monumental statue atop a hill on Puebla's Northern Sierra region. Originally, the Tabacal neighborhood of Xicotepec de Juárez, also known as Villa Juárez, was home to a small church consecrated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

In the late 2000s, however, a government and civic proposal lead to the conversion of this sleepy neighborhood into a religious tourism destination. Mexico's "Pueblos Mágicos" (Magical Villages) program started in 2001 as a way to allocate federal funds to towns with touristic potential that could use a boost.

Construction on this 75-foot (23-meter) statue started in 2009 with money obtained through grassroots funding projects. It was inaugurated in 2011 after injections of funds by local and state governments. By 2012 it, along, with the town's historical heritage, lush landscapes, and local gastronomy had helped Xicotepec become a "Magical Village."

In the following years, the statue's fame grew, and it started becoming an important pilgrimage site. The federal funding program ended in 2018, although by this point Xicotepec had become a religious tourism destination. That same year, a huge cross was built farther up the mountain from the Virgin, along with steps connecting the two, thus creating one of the world's most recent Catholic pilgrimage sites.

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Know Before You Go

The statue can be reached by foot or by car, although the drive up is notorious for its sharp turns. Xicotepec is known for its changing weather—rain can appear at a moment's notice and the temperature varies greatly during a single day, so pack accordingly and don't be surprised if the view is all fog when you reach the top, it could clear up in a few minutes after all.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is commemorated throughout Mexico every December 12. Expect fireworks, music, and serious crowding on and around the date.

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August 1, 2019

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Virgen Monumental de Xicotepec
Xicotepec de Juárez, 73080
Mexico
20.286343, -97.954627

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