Just 27 kilometers off the city center one finds the village of El Cobre where lies the prime sanctuary devoted to the Virgin de la Caridad del Cobre, the Patron Saint of Cuba and the unequivocal icon of Cuban cultural identity.
The worship of the Virgin del Cobre by Cubans dates back to the XVII century when the virgin made its first legendary apparition, and it still holds fast today, it even became syncretized into African Yoruba religion through the goddess Ochún.
The current Sanctuary del Cobre, which offers mass every morning, dates from 1927 and possesses an altar of solid silver and other ornamental items of great worth. Beneath the Sanctum of the Virgin one finds what is known as the Chapel of Miracles, a small recess where believers lay the most dissimilar offerings: gold jewels and precious stones, crutches, as well as other riches of great spiritual value to devotees.