Nuestra Señora de la Asunción: A Beautiful Church in Copacabana

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a notable and historic Roman Catholic church located in the Copacabana municipality north of Medellín, which is worth seeing if you like old and historic churches.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a church with a history that traces back to 1715. In addition, it’s a Baroque-style church that has many beautiful stained-glass windows and pieces of religious artwork.

Note there is another church named Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Medellín located in the Santa Cruz comuna of Medellín. This article is only about the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción church located in Copacabana.

History of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción’s history can be traced back to 1715. In 1715, the first temple at the site was built, located next to the current church. And in 1770, a second church was built right next to the first temple.

Since the second church was too small, it was replaced about 100 years later and is the current main church on the site. There still is a small temple located to the left of the main church on the site.

Small temple located to the left of the main church on the site

The tower at the site was reportedly added in 1943.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción’s tower

Currently the parish is managed by the priest Hector Mario Buitrago Suárez who took over as pastor of the community in August 2016. While the church is located in the municipality of Copacabana, it is still considered part of the Archdiocese of Medellín.

The central nave inside Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Inside Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Inside the church you will find a beautiful white interior with some gold and burgundy trim. And the church has wooden pews like most churches in Colombia.

In addition, the church has several beautiful stained-glass windows.

Stained-glass window in Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Another stained-glass window in the church

And another stained-glass window in the church

Another of the many stained-glass windows

Furthermore, there are many pieces of religious artwork to be found throughout this church.

Religious artwork in the church

More religious artwork

Another of the many pieces of religious artwork

Additional religious artwork

And like many other churches in the city, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción has confessionals on both the right and left sides.

One of the confessionals in the church

How to Get to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

The easiest way to get to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is via a combination of the Medellín Metro and taxi. To get there you can take Line A of the metro north to the last metro station of Niquía in Bello.

At the Niquía metro station there are integrated metro buses that use a Civica card and will take you directly to Copacabana. And the buses stop near the main park. The bus ride to Copacabana is about 15 minutes and the integrated metro fare including the metro and bus is only 2,550 pesos

Metro buses to Copacabana lined up at Niquía metro station

Taking a taxi is another option. The church is located about a 10-minute taxi ride from the Niquía metro station with a fare of about 11,000 pesos to Parque Copacabana where the church is located. Just tell the taxi driver “Parque principal de Copacabana”. It’s also easy to catch taxis at Parque Copacabana when you return.

An alternate way to get to the church is via a taxi from your location. Many taxi drivers in Medellín will know where Parque Copacabana is located. If not, give the driver the address of the church below.

Address: Calle 49 # 50-53, Parque Principal Copacabana

Phone: +57 4 274 0122

Email: laasuncioncopacabana@arqmedellin.co

Hours: The church typically has mass scheduled in the early mornings starting at 6:30 am with a last morning mass at 8:00 am. It also has a mass scheduled in the early evenings. But the church is open other times of the day. I visited the church at noon when no mass is scheduled and it was open. But we recommend calling to make sure the church will be open when you go.

The Beautiful Churches in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley

In the metropolitan Medellín metro area (Aburrá Valley), there are over 300 Roman Catholic churches. Most notably, there is a complete list of all the churches of the Archdiocese of Medellín.

We have looked at a total of 33 beautiful churches in the Medellín metro area and the Aburrá Valley in a series on this website. And 22 of the churches we have looked at in detail are in Medellín:

1. Catedral Basílica Metropolitana – the main church of the Archdiocese of Medellín and the largest church in the city.
2. Iglesia de La Candelaria – the oldest church in Medellín, which is also a National Monument of Colombia.
3. Iglesia San Antonio and Plaza San Antonio – the church with the largest dome in Medellín located next to Plaza San Antonio with four Fernando Botero sculptures.
4. Iglesia Jesús Nazareno – another of the most beautiful churches in Medellín.
5. Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro – a beautiful Gothic-style church in Medellín.
6. Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús – a neo-Gothic-style church located in Barrio Triste in Medellín.
7. Iglesia de San José – a Boroque-style church located in El Centro, Medellín.
8. Iglesia del Señor de las Misericordias – a neo-Gothic-style church located in the Manrique neighborhood of Medellín.
9. Iglesia San José – a Romanesque-style church located next to Parque Poblado in El Poblado.
10. Iglesia de la Veracruz – a colonial church with a history that goes back to 1682, which makes it one of the oldest churches in Medellín.
11. Iglesia de San Ignacio – a beautiful church in El Centro with a Baroque-style exterior and colonial interior.
12. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora – a Roman-style church located next to Parque Belén in Medellín.
13. Iglesia el Calvario – a Romanesque-style church in the Aranjuez comuna in Medellín.
14. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sufragio – a neo-Romanesque-style church in the Boston barrio in Medellín.
15. Iglesia de San Benito – a neo-Romanesque-style church with a history that traces back to 1678, which make it one of the oldest churches in Medellín.
16. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – a Neo-Byzantine-style church in the La América comuna in Medellín.
17. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón – a beautiful Neo-Gothic-style church in the Buenos Aires comuna in Medellín.
18. Iglesia de Cristo Rey – a beautiful church in the Guayabal comuna of Medellín with many beautiful stained-glass windows.
19. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – a beautiful Neoclassical-style church in the Robledo comuna of Medellín, which is also a National Monument of Colombia.
20. Iglesia del Cementerio San Pedro – a beautiful church built in 1929 that has some of the most beautiful stained-glass windows found in the churches in Medellín.
21. Iglesia de El Niño Jesús de Praga – a beautiful church in the Villa Hermosa comuna in Medellín.
22. Iglesia San Joaquín – a beautiful church in the Laureles-Estadio comuna in Medellín that is reportedly the second largest church in Medellín.

Also, we have looked at the principal church in each of the other nine municipalities in the Aburrá Valley:

1. Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis – a beautiful church in Envigado located next to Parque Envigado.
2. Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a church located in Bello that is arguably the most beautiful church in the Aburrá Valley
3. Iglesia de Santa Ana – a very popular church in Sabaneta located next to Parque Sabaneta.
4. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a historic church in Itagüí near Medellín with a history that traces back to 1743.
5. Nuestra Señora Chiquinquirá – a beautiful church in La Estrella with a Neo-Gothic-style.
6. Catedral Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes – a Neoclassical-style church with a history that traces back to 1793 and is located in the Caldas municipality south of Medellín.
7. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción – a Baroque-style church with a history that traces back to 1715 and is located in the Copacabana municipality north of Medellín.
8. Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a Neo-Romanesque-style church located in the Girardota municipality northeast of Medellín.
9. Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua – a Neo-Romanesque-style church located in the Barbosa municipality northeast of Medellín.

Also, we looked at two smaller colonial-style churches while looking in detail at two nearby larger churches:

1. Hato Viejo Chapel – a colonial-style church in Bello built between 1772 and 1796. It’s also a National Monument of Colombia. We looked at Hato Viejo Chapel while covering Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
2. Capilla de María Auxiliadora – a colonial-style church in Barbosa built between 1773 and 1776. We looked at Capilla de María Auxiliadora while covering Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua.

In addition, we looked at Las Lajas Sanctuary located in Ipiales, Colombia, which is considered the most beautiful church in Colombia. Also, it’s considered by many to be one of the most beautiful churches in the world.

Parque Copacabana

Parque Copacabana

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is located at Parque Copacabana, which is the principal park in the Copacabana municipality.

The daily life in Copacabana is typically centered around Parque Copacabana, which is a one square block plaza that is filled with trees for shade. In addition, this park is surrounded by several small restaurants, bars and shops. 

Parque Copacabana is considered by locals to be a convenient place in Copacabana to meet up with friends. This park is one of the nicest I have been to in the Aburrá Valley.

Statue of Simón Bolívar in Parque Copacabana

Also, in the park is a statue of Simón Bolívar, which is common in many of the parks in Colombia.  Copacabana is a pueblo in the Aburrá Valley with a population of over 70,000. And it’s located west of Bello.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Copacabana

The Bottom Line: Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Copacabana is not found in any of the 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. But it’s worth stopping to see this notable Roman Catholic church if you like old and historic churches.

Several of the most notable and beautiful churches in the Medellín area are located in El Centro. But we have also been looking at notable and beautiful churches in other neighborhoods in the Aburrá Valley like Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, which is located in the northern Copacabana municipality.

Seems like, in my experience, that most of the travel guidebooks in English about Colombia are missing many of the best places in the cities and pueblos in Colombia.

Consequently, we have covered the beautiful churches in the Medellín metro area in a comprehensive series on this website. Most noteworthy, we did this since a majority of the beautiful and notable churches in the city are missing from the English-language travel guidebooks about Colombia.

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