Gaudí to Inspire Vidawasi Sanctuary in Peru’s Sacred Valley

“The idea is to help and collaborate with the architects, engineers and artists here so that Gaudí is also present in this project, keeping in mind above all the Inca heritage, the materials, these stones, the wood, the ceramics; and that is found in Gaudí too: the importance of nature”

Architect José Manuel Almuzara, ambassador of the sanctuary and president of its architectural committee, explained to Peru's public television how Gaudí's inspiration will be joined with Andean stone, wood and ceramics in a temple dedicated to Our Lady of Vidawasi, in the very heart of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

On 26 June 2026, during the VI Patronal Feast of Our Lady of Vidawasi, celebrated in Yanahuara-Urubamba, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas (Cusco, Peru), Peru's National Institute of Radio and Television (IRTP) interviewed José Manuel Almuzara for TVPE Noticias. The report was headlined "Vidawasi will have a sanctuary inspired by Gaudí" and presented the Spanish architect as the man entrusted with giving shape to this Marian temple. Almuzara is Ambassador of the Sanctuary and Viewpoint of Our Lady of Vidawasi and has chaired the project's architectural committee since 2025. His presence at the feast confirmed the close bond between devotion to the Virgin and the work of the brilliant Catalan architect.

The TVPE Noticias report summed up the scope of the initiative: a sanctuary that will unite the inspiration of Antoni Gaudí with Andean architecture and materials. The project seeks to bring together two seemingly distant worlds, Inca culture and the work of Gaudí, in a single place of prayer. The stone, wood and ceramics native to the region will converse with the organic language that made the Catalan master famous. In this way, the future temple aspires to be at once profoundly Peruvian and recognizably Gaudinian.

“I can add my brushstroke of Gaudí here and there; and above all this love for nature, to be instruments and to place each of our gifts at His service”

Asked by Peruvian public television, Almuzara stressed that his role would be to add and to accompany, not to impose. He insisted on collaborating with the local architects, engineers and artists so that Gaudí is present without erasing the identity of the place, attending above all to the Inca heritage and its materials: the stone, the wood and the ceramics. He recalled that this respect for nature is, precisely, one of the traits that define the work of the Catalan architect. Thus, Gaudí's inspiration reaches the Sacred Valley as a gesture of service to the community and to its faith.

The sanctuary is not an isolated undertaking, but part of a greater endeavour. Vidawasi Perú is a non-profit organization building the first Children's Health Citadel in Latin America, dedicated to the country's most vulnerable children. The VI Patronal Feast brought together this twofold dimension, spiritual and charitable: the central Mass was presided over by the Archbishop of Cusco, Monsignor Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia, and the day included the blessing of the community health mobile fleet and of the new hospital wing. The temple dedicated to the Virgin will thus crown a project that is already healing lives.

“A touch of Gaudí will reach the heart of the Sacred Valley. The renowned Spanish architect José Manuel Almuzara is working on the design of a sanctuary for Our Lady of Vidawasi in Urubamba, a project that will combine his inspiration with Andean architecture and materials”

For José Manuel Almuzara, a Catholic architect and driving force behind Gaudí's cause of beatification, this collaboration holds a meaning that transcends the architectural. He speaks of placing each person's gifts at the service of God and of learning from nature, as Gaudí himself did. His contribution, he said, will be a discreet brushstroke accompanying the Peruvians' devotion to Our Lady of Vidawasi. In the heart of the Sacred Valley, Andean stone and the inspiration of the Catalan master will join hands in the service of the most vulnerable children.

📄 Download the programme of the 6th Festival of the Virgin of Vidawasi (PDF, in Spanish)