The upper view of the massive main cathedral After Villa de Leyva, our epic road trip through eastern Colombia began to wind down. We had two more heritage towns to visit: Guaduas and Honda. But first, we made a two-night stop in Zipaquirá near Bogotá to see one of Colombia’s most famous attractions: the Catedral de Sal (Salt Cathedral). Salt Cathedral Facts The cathedral is built into the world’s largest deposit of halite (rock salt). Mining activities date back at least 6 centuries, when the ancient Muisca indigenous people first began excavations. In fact, these salt deposits played a key role in the Muiscas’ creation of one of South America’s most prosperous pre-Hispanic societies. Centuries later, the mines helped finance Colombia’s drive for independence from Spain. Fast forward to the 1930s, when the miners built a small chapel in which they could pray to the Virgin of the Rosary of Guasá, their…