Only the crumbling walls remain of this 1693 colonial stone church, once home to a miraculous painting of the Virgin, discovered by a local fisherman. According to lore, the relic refused to be moved, forcing clerics to build the church around it. In return, the Virgin helped locals defeat a group of marauding British pirates in 1666. After the floods and a few earthquakes, however, the painting conceded to move to Paraíso, leaving the ruins to deteriorate photogenically in a remarkable park. (Kids can let off some steam at the fantastic playground here.) Every year, usually on the Sunday closest to April 14, there is a procession from Paraíso to the ruins, where Mass, food and music help celebrate the day of La Virgen de Ujarrás . The church’s grassy grounds are a popular picnicking spot on Sunday afternoons – but go in the middle of the week and chances are that you will have them all to yourself.
