Jul 2 – Today we stayed in town and visited the church, Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Agua Santa, a pretty place with a red altar, and a convent that now houses a museum.

The sanctuary is filled with paintings depicting the miracles attributed to the Virgin of the Holy Waters. Each painting has the story inscribed on the bottom with the date and particulars of each miracle.

The museum has a large collection of musty clerical robes, and a room full of taxidermied animals that had seen better days.

Some nice paintings here too, and a mosaic.

Then we walked to the edge of town, where we could see the Agua Santa waterfall.

It looks like the folks here were gearing up for the holy waters to be a major tourist attraction, like Lourdes, with the waters available to the masses. Unfortunately, we were the only folks around, and the Garden of the Virgin was padlocked. We climbed closer to the waterfall.

From the waterfall, we could see the thermal baths next door.

We dipped our fingers in the Agua Santa, and the water was ice cold, so we’re not sure where the thermal bath waters come from. A mystery.

Walking home, we enjoyed more street art and some lovely brugmansia.

Baños – a groovy place!