Nort West Argentina, Something on the road & the mountains…

Road sanctuaries along the high roads of Argentina, have you ever seen these road side sanctuaries…… Road sanctuaries go hand in hand with the Christian idea of pilgrims. We can trace the origin of this particular religious tradition to the middle Ages, when the European gentlemen and monarchs fought in the crusades against the Muslims, and wished to return to holly land in Jerusalem. It was then when peregrination had its first and strongest impact. Going to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, to Rome, to Jerusalem, was a synonym of going through a self discovery path that strengthened the bond with god and the Holly Church.



In the American continent, especially during the Hispanic conquest Church and Sword were two sides of the same coin, it wasn't just about the territories, but also it had much to do with spreading around the pagan world the word of God. And due to the fact that there were many ancestral indigenous religions that were not easy to eradicate, the form the colonization of the soul took was a blend between Christianity and local religions. Catholicism was, from the very start, the main stream in which diverse and local cults converged. The mean through which these different religions connected were the Christian Saints, people who looked just like us but had lived an exemplar life of such divinity, of such clearness of heart and soul that they had come to be closer to God, and after dead have professed all sort of miracles. These sanctified common people were the link through which priests and nuns spread the gospel. As a result of this, Saints have had a central role in popular beliefs soon after the first evangelization campaigns took place in Latin America.



This general evolution Hispanic American Catholicism remains intact to our days. And it's important to highlight the fact that there are thousands of Saints created by the communities, many of which have not yet been recognized by the Vatican, and however are the essential bond these common people have with the Church as an institution.



In Argentina, among the most important and popular ones are road Saints, saints to the voyagers… common people, like you and me, who have not lived an exemplar life, but have died martyrs and professed miracles at their moment of death and have kept on doing so for the years to come. Two of the most worshiped popular saints in Argentina are Difunta Correa and Gauchito Gil, both guardians to voyagers and travelers.



I will try to place some photos of the ones I photographed along the Route 40, North West Argentina, in my travels this summer……… Bob Frassinetti


See Photos Road side sanctuaries in North west Argentina