This pictures village was known, by the Incas, for its richness in gold, which soon attracted the Spanish. In 1560, one of the native people found a picture of the Virgin, which motivated the construction of the first church in the area. The original virgin soon disappeared and in the mid-seventeenth century the first parish priest of the town ordered a new one from Peru, similar to the previous one, carved in cedar wood. Today, it is still in the old Andacollo church, built between 1772 and 1789 to provide a sanctuary for the holy image.
In 1873, a new church was built, with a three-way entrance with pointed arches, Corinthian columns, arcades, and galleries at the extremes. The double-wall construction is of Oregon pine, adobe and covered with galvanized iron. So are the floors, columns, pilasters, cornices, moldings and parts of the towers. The festivities in Andacollo are marked by dancing of the devotees, who come tegether for masquerades the first Sunday of October and December 24 and 25. The town is filled with music and color.
