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El Cristo Negro (Black Christ)

Esquipulas sits almost on the border on the road south east from Guatemala City to El Salvador. Its church and Black Christ are so praised that we decided to use our last day to see them. It and the 100 km detour were worth it. We got to see more pleasant countryside, a very unique church, and a pleasant swimming pool.

Swimming pool at Posada del Cristo Negro

Our drive there was back up the Montagua valley (i.e. west) experiencing in reverse order the quick change from humid Caribbean coast to pleasant (for us) temperate and green lands, on into dry, semi-desert lands that remind us of Southern California in the dry season. Then we turned south and climbed a lot over 100 km through nice mountains, not so dry, but still reminiscent of Southern California.

In Esquipulas we took a room at the Posada del Cristo Negro hotel, about 2 km from the center. By that distance one is already essentially in countryside. It was instantly recognizable, with its large grounds and swimming pool as one of many Guatemalan weekend resorts. We'd walked by a dozen of them on our way to Castillo San Felipe and had lunched at one of them, Vinas del Lago. On our drive to Esquipulas we stopped 20 km before arrival for lunch at another of them. There we could have used the pool after lunch but wanted to get on.

Putting off the Posada del Cristo Negro's long pool to later use, we set off for town to see it and the church. The town site was inhabited centuries before the Spanish conquest. Soon after the conquest a church was built and in 1595 a statue of Christ made from black wood, carved by Quirio Cantano, was added. Church and statue became a pilgrimage site. Then in 1737 a visiting Spanish Bishop was cured of a long ailment so he ordered a much larger church, the present one, constructed. With news of the miraculous cure, the number of pilgrims increased enormously.

Basilica of the Black Christ

When we visited we found the church had many hopefuls inside, burning candles, and making pleas in hope of cures for themselves and loved ones. We took the special route to the back of the church and approached El Cristo negro with others. Along the way we went through a room filled with letters of thanks for the favors received. Also, following the example of the other pilgrims, we walked away from the statue backwards, presumably to show sufficient respect.

After visiting the church we made a small tour of the small town of Esquipulas. It is about six blocks by ten, with many restaurants catering to the flood of pilgrims. We were searching for our own reward: an ATM machine, but, perhaps because of our lack of faith, did not find one where our Citicard would get us, instead of manna, moola. We did find an internet cafe and spent two hours there, making the first update to www.chandlerbates.com in over two months.

Main Street to the Basilica, Esquipulas

Basilica, Esquipulas