Vanessa's year in Mexico City: Where the Virgin of Guadalupe was first sighted

Recently we visited the Basilica of the Virgin de Guadalupe. It is found in the north of the city, amid a bustling community. The new basilica is huge and very sterile...it resembles a train station. The old basilica just behind it, is beautiful with a museum inside with artwork and tributes to the Virgin. And, just behind that basilica, is the real treasure, the chapel that was built on the hill where the Virgin was first sighted.

Here is some background on the Virgin de Guadalupe:

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (Spanish: Virgen de Guadalupe; Nahuatl: Tonantzin Guadalupe) is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.
According to tradition, Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, saw a vision of a young woman on December 9, 1531. While he was on the hill in the desert of Tepeyac near Mexico City, the lady told him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He told the local bishop, who asked for some proof. He went back and saw the vision again. He told the lady that the bishop wanted proof, and she said "Bring the roses behind you." When he looked behind, he saw a bunch of roses growing. He cut the roses, placed them in his poncho and returned to the bishop. When he arrived to the bishop, he said he had brought proof. When he opened his poncho, instead of roses there was a picture of the young lady in the vision. Today, the icon is displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe nearby, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.^[1] The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image, with the titles "Queen of Mexico",^[2] "Empress of the Americas",^[3] and "Patroness of the Americas";^[4] both Miguel Hidalgo (in the Mexican War of Independence) and Emiliano Zapata (during the Mexican Revolution) carried flags bearing the Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president changed his name in honor of the icon.

source: wikipedia