Today, January 21st, is Dìa de la Altagracia [Altagracia Day], a feast day and annual public holiday commemorating the patron saint and protector of the Dominican Republic, "Our Lady of Altagracia." Our Lady of Altagracia is a portrait of the Virgin Mary painted in the 16th century and kept inside of the Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia. Add this place to your bucketlist when visiting DR!
The cathedral was completed in 1970. Once upon a time in the capital city of Salvaleón de Higüey, a little girl received a portrait of the Virgin Mary as a gift from her father. Legend has it, the portrait would mysteriously appear beneath a small tree outside of the house every morning at the break of dawn. Everyday, the little girl would bring the portrait inside the house and every morning it appeared in the same spot outside of the house. Confused and frightened, the little girl told her parents. The place was deemed as sacred ground which later became the Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia.
On one of my many travels to the Dominican Republic, I went on a road trip to Punta Cana from the capital city of Santo Domingo [2 and 1/2 hrs ride] and stopped by the Basilica Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia [Basilica of Our Lady of La Altagracia], in the capital city of Salvaleón de Higüey.