"SANTOS LUGARES – MIRACLES IN THE SUBURBS " a Santos Lugares Travel Page by mtncorg

The metropolitan area for BsAs is huge. Three million live within the Capital Federal, but another 11 million lie just outside in BsAs province. The districts go on and on. Hidden away from most tourists – the average tourist doesn’t get much west of Avenida Colon, except on the northwest corner of Recoleta/Palmero – are the beautiful neo-gothic spires of the Santuario Nuestra Senora de Lourdes en Santos Lugares. The spires can be seen in the distance from the elevated freeway that rings the western border of the Capital Federal. In front of the church, you find a grotto built for the Virgin of Lourdes – the same Virgin of French fame. As in France, the Grotto is a place of pilgrimage and miracles as the innumerable tiles from thankful recipients can attest.

To get here, use a remise, a taxi or take the Urquiza light rail line out from the end of the subway line B – at the Federico Lacroze station; your stop for Santos Lugares is Station Lourdes. Another option is to take a train out from the Retiro to Ferrocarril San Martin, though several Argentines tried to dissuade me from that option as ‘that train is not for foreigners’ … meaning? The church is about 600 meters from either train station.