Around 1700, to accommodate the faithful flock, the four-towered Basilica de Guadalupe was erected at the site of an earlier shrine. But by the 1970s, the old yellow-domed building proved inadequate to the task, so the new Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was built next door. Designed by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, it is a vast, round, open-plan structure with a capacity for over 40,000 people. The image of the Virgin hangs above and behind the basilica’s main altar, with moving walkways to bring visitors as close as possible.
