Mariana Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Flowers in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Oxcart in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Villa Blanca’s Mariana Wedding Chapel was the 50th anniversary-wedding gift from former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio to First Lady Estrella Carazo Zeledon. Its unique hand painted ceramic ceiling depicts the history of the Virgin Mary when first introduced into Latin America by Christian missionaries. It is located on a grassy knoll overlooking the farm village and hacienda of Villa Blanca. The Chapel’s backdrop is the 840 Ha (2000 acre) Los Angeles Cloud Forest, with over 300 listed bird species included within a variety of flora and fauna in this protected habitat and serene mountain setting. The chapel, a replica of a 17th century chapel in Rome, features a high beam ceiling composed of 840 individual ceramic plates, all of them hand drawn and painted with high temperature enamel paints. Each side of the ceiling has 15 panels of 28 plates divided in two vertical rows of 14 plates. Each one of the columns formed by the 14 plates conveys a theme allusive to a Latin-American virgin and her country of origin.