The City of Andacollo and its religious and historical tradition
The first people in this area belonged to El Molle culture (300 BC – 700 AC). Under Inca influence, they were farmers and herdsmen with expertise in metallurgical copper. From about 1470, Andacollo’s gold was taken to Cuzco to raise the treasures of the Inca and his wife, who was called “Colla”. In fact, in Quechua, “Anta Colla” means “golden queen” or “queen of the metal”.
There is also another legend about the name: In 1560, a native named Collo had found a small image of the Virgin which had been hidden by two Spanish soldiers who fled the destruction of La Serena in 1549. When Collo discovered it, he heard a voice that said “Come on, Collo, and tell your people that I’m here.” “Come on, Collo” means “Anda Collo” in Spanish. Collo thought that this Virgin was the Pacha Mama, the Earth Mother goddess, leading his people and starting the cult of it.
Andacollo Sanctuary
Andacollo’s Marian Temple is the second oldest in Latin America after Guadeloupe’s in Mexico.
Small Temple: Built between 1772 and 1789. In its early days was a small chapel with a mud roof.
Big Church: It was designed by Italian architect Eusebio Chely and built between the years 1873 and 1893. It has a height of 
50 meters, measuring 70 m. long and 40 m. wide, with capacity for 10 thousand people. Its structure is pine brought from California and it has 3 altars.
Virgin’s Museum: In this place you’ll find the “native’s Chapel”, and an impressive show of donations offered to the Virgin for those church members that each year come to Andacollo.
Religious Festivals
Every first Sunday in October is the first festival, the small one, which brings together nearly one hundred thousand devotees and pilgrims to celebrate the arrival of the Virgin from Lima, celebrating with religious dances in her honor. The celebration starts with the transfer of the image from the Small Temple to the Basilica or Big Church, on Saturday, bringing it back to finish the day Sunday, after a liturgy and religious dances.
The second celebration or “Fiesta Grande” occurs between days 23 and December 27. Then almost two hundred thousand people gather to celebrate the coronation of the image in gold, being the only one in Chile that has this privilege.
Mining tradition
In Andacollo you’ll know the traces of the mining culture of the area and the technological changes that have occurred over the years, from initial Incasic techniques to the industrialized activities
The “Maray”, for example, is a craft that the Incas used to grind corn and quinoa, and later adapted to the Spanish mining. It consists of a stone mortar and a cylindrical base made of the same stone, using water and mercury to trap oro.
Andacollo and the sky
The perfect climatic conditions for astronomic observation were the reason for de establishment of the Collowara Touristic Observatory in Andacollo. Collowara in Aymara language means “Land of Stars”. It is located 1350 meters above sea level and facing Scientific Tololo Observatory and Gemini South. It has conference rooms equipped with projection and audio system for a total of 60 people, three observation terraces with 2 Newtonian reflector telescope of 10 inches and a 16-inches Dobsonian telescope. Also it has an observation dome that holds the main telescope, model smitth cassegrein of 14 inches. It also has a cafe, souvenir sales room and a staff of guides with extensive astronomical knowledge.
Archeology
The Yahuin Museum, located in Andacollo, shows all vestiges of indigenous cultures from which arises all the religious and mining tradition. Supported by the Archaeological Museum of La Serena and funded by Carmen Mining Company of Andacollo, this initiative was created by the Cultural Association Yahuin, composed of people from different fields together to preserve and disseminate the cultural heritage of Andacollo.
As you can see, Andacollo is a land full of wealth that is worth discovering.
