LaBitConf: Excursion to the Salt Cathedral

The Latin American Bitcoin Conference took place in Bogotá on December 4 and 5 this year. But for speakers, sponsors, team members and the ones who bought the "LaBitConf Experience" ticket, the show went on. 

On Wednesday the 6th there was an excursion to a spectacular place: the Catedral de Sal in Zipaquirá, about one hour from Bogotá.

It is a church built inside a former salt mine. The salt miners had started to built places to pray and worship already in the 1930s, but when the salt mine was shut down, the project of a big church emerged. 

It was built from 1991 to 1995 by the Colombian architect Roswell Garavito Pearl. It is a fully functional church, which attracts about 3000 participants for the Sunday mass - and of course lots of tourists.

After entering the church, 14 small chapels represent the stations of the cross, similar the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. Each station has a cross and kneeling platforms carved into the salt.

At the end of the main entrance ramp there is the Dome.

From a balcony, which hosts an orchestra and choir for big events, you have a great view of the main nave with its giant cross.

Going down, there are several naves.

Haijiao Li from the biggest Bitcoin mining company Bitmain.

Here you see a nativity scene with Maria and Joseph and the animals in the barn where Jesus was born according to Christian belief.

I usually don't like churches, as they are designed to make people feel small and powerless, but the Catedral de Sal is definitely worth a visit.

We ended the day by celebrating Bitcoin going over the 14,000 dollar mark by eating some pizzas.

They were quite cheap, far less than 10,000 Bitcoins.

Here Satoshi Nakamoto explains the true nature of money.

What an event! Thanks to Rodolfo and his team for organising LaBitConf and making it better every year. I am looking forward to LaBitConf 2018!

More posts about the world's best Bitcoin conference:

LaBitConf's first evening
LaBitConf's first day
LaBitConf's second day