Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre

The shrine is in the town of El Cobre, roughly 20 kilometers northwest of Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba. It sits in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra. The current basilica, with its distinctive silver-domed silhouette, was built in the 1920s and overlooks the surrounding valley.

According to Cuban tradition, around 1612 two Indigenous brothers and a young Black man—commonly called "los tres Juanes"—found the small wooden statue of the Virgin floating on the waters of Nipe Bay. The image has been venerated continuously since then and is associated with numerous reported miracles. It was crowned formally as Cuba's patroness in 1936.

Pope Benedict XV declared Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre the principal patroness of Cuba in 1916. The statue was canonically crowned in 1936, and Pope Paul VI raised the shrine to the rank of a minor basilica in 1977. Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis both visited the shrine during their trips to Cuba.

The image is a small (about 16-inch) carved wooden statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, decorated with gold and jewels donated by devotees. She is also called La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre and is depicted standing on a crescent moon with cherubs at her feet. Afro-Cuban devotees historically identified her with the orisha Ochún, creating a notable syncretism.