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The Santuario de la Candelaria is one of two churches on the zocalo. The interior is a beautiful blend of pastel colors. At the end of January and beginning of February it is made more alluring by enormous bouquets of flowers.

On the left stands a 4-foot statue of a woman with a childlike doll’s face. She smiles as she holds a small doll-baby in her arms in a gesture of presentation. She is wearing an attractively embroidered dress with an exquisite handmade, full-length gold lamé cloak. Her knee length auburn hair, human hair, flows gently down her back. She is the Virgin of the Candelaria and at this time of year Tlacotalpan comes to life with her celebration.