The basilica is located on the site where, on December 9, 1531, a poor Indian named Juan Diego is reputed to have seen a vision of a beautiful lady in a blue mantle. The local bishop, Zumarraga, was reluctant to confirm that Juan had indeed seen the Virgin Mary, so he asked the peasant for some evidence. Juan saw the vision a second time, on December 12, and when he asked her for proof, she instructed him to collect the roses that began blooming in the rocky soil at Juan Diego's feet. He gathered the flowers in his cloak and returned to the bishop. When he unfurled his cloak, the flowers dropped to the ground and the image of the Virgin was miraculously emblazoned on the rough-hewn cloth. The bishop immediately ordered the building of a church on the spot, and upon its completion the image was hung in a place of honor, framed in gold. Since that time, millions of the devout and the curious have come to view the miraculous image that experts, it is said, are at a loss to explain. The blue-mantled Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico.

So heavy was the flow of visitors--many approached for hundreds of yards on their knees--that the old church, already fragile, was insufficient to handle them. An audacious New Basilica was built, designed by Pedro Ramírez Vazquez, the same architect who did the breathtaking Museo Nacional de Antropología.

The miracle cloak hangs behind bullet-proof glass above the altar. Electric people-movers going in two directions move the crowds a distance below the cloak. If you want to see it again, take the people mover going in the opposite direction; you can do it as many times as you wish.

To the right of the modern basilica is the Old Basilica, actually the second one built to house the cloak--the first one is higher up on the hill. Unfortunately, the Old Basilica is tilting precariously, and is not open to visitors. Restoration has been ongoing for at least 10 years, but is moving more rapidly now. To the back of it is the entrance to the Basilica Museum, with a very good display of religious art in restored rooms. One of the side chapels, with a silver altar, is adjacent to the museum.

Outside the museum is a garden commemorating the moment Juan Diego showed the cloak to the archbishop. Numerous photographers with colorful backdrops gather there to capture your visit on film. At the top of the hill, behind the basilica, is the Panteón del Tepeyac, a cemetery for Mexico's more infamous folk (Santa Anna among them), and several gift shops specializing in religious objects and other folk art. The steps up this hill are lined with flowers, shrubs, and waterfalls, and the climb, although tiring, is worthwhile for the view from the top.

If you visit Mexico City on December 12, you can witness the grand festival in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The square in front of the basilica fills up with the pious and the party-minded as prayers, dances, and a carnival atmosphere attract thousands of the devout. Many visitors combine a trip to the basilica with one to the ruins of Teotihuacán, since both are out of the city center in the same direction. It is virtually impossible to understand Mexico and its culture without appreciating the national devotion for the Virgin of Our Lady of Guadalupe.