Sanctuary of the Lord of Help - Labruja

This 18th-century Baroque sanctuary, Santuário do Senhor do Socorro , is located on a hill in the village of Labruja. Construction began in 1773 on the site of an older chapel dedicated to Pope Gregory the Great.

It is one of the most famous sanctuaries in the Lima region , an important center of Christological veneration to which many people make a pilgrimage. The religious complex, in rococo style, consists of a church, a staircase, two choir stalls, a wavy staircase behind the building and a hermitage of simple lines, crowned by a dome with an altar inside, dedicated to the Lord of the Emigrants.

The latter, as well as the first staircase where you can see the statue of Abel and the "desert fountain", would have been part of a plan to extend the enclosure. The plan, conceived in the second half of the 19th century, provided for the construction of a new sanctuary further up the hill, with a long Way of the Cross where small shrines would accompany the route, in a kind of Bom Jesus de Braga that was never completed.

The interior contains gilded carvings in rocaille style, painted ex-votos (thank offerings), and statues of saints including Saint Benedict and Saint Anthony.

On the first weekend of July, the Festa do Senhor do Socorro takes place here — an important religious and cultural celebration that attracts many pilgrims and visitors. There are parades, traditional music, folk dancing and a large Sunday procession.

Willem Vandenameele