Luján is a city in the Buenos Aires province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

 of Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, located 68 kilometres north west of the city of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. The city was founded in 1755 and has a population of 94,000 (as per the ).

Luján is best known for its large neo-gothic

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 Basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

, built in honor of the Virgin of Luján, the patron saint of Argentina. Every year, more than six million people make pilgrimages to the Basilica, many walking there from Buenos Aires. The city is known as 'La Capital de la Fe' (Capital of the Faith). It is popular day-trip for non-believers too, with abundant grill restaurants (like most places in Argentina) and souvenir shops with kitsch religious memorabilia.
The church was designed by the French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 architect Ulderico Courtois and started in 1889, completed by 1937. Its towers stand 106m high and it has a copper roof and bronze doors. The huge church towers over the surrounding flat country and houses the tiny 38 cm high statue of the Virgin. A large and important organ by French builder Cavaille-Coll stands in the gallery in a state of deterioration, although efforts are underway to see to its restoration.

Luján is also home to the Enrique Udaondo museum complex, housing exhibitions of colonial life in the house of the Viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 and old town hall, with art, uniforms, silverware and transport with many antique vehicles including Plus Ultra

Plus Ultra (hydroplane)

Plus Ultra was a Dornier Do J flying boat which completed the first Trans-Atlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926 with a crew of Spanish aviators, that included Ramón Franco and Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz, Juan Manuel Duran and Pablo Rada.The Plus Ultra departed from...

 the first hydroplane to cross from Europe to Argentina and La Porteña, Argentina's first steam locomotive operated by Ferrocarril Oeste

Buenos Aires Western Railway

The Buenos Aires Western Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina...

. Also on display are the prison cells where Colonel William Carr Beresford

William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford

General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, GCB, GCH, GCTE, PC , was a British soldier and politician...

, commander of the 1806 British invading forces

British invasions of the Río de la Plata

The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...

, and General Cornelio Saavedra

Cornelio Saavedra

Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...

, president

President of Argentina

The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...

 of the first national government (Primera Junta

Primera Junta

The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...

) in 1810, were held.

The nearby city of Mercedes

Mercedes, Buenos Aires

Mercedes is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located 100 km west from Buenos Aires and 30 km south west of Luján. It is the head town of the district of Mercedes as well as of the judicial district...

 is seat of the Bishop of Mercedes and Luján. Luján is the principal settlement of the Lujan Partido

Luján Partido

Luján Partido is a partido located in the north-eastern part of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 94,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Luján, which is located from Buenos Aires....

or municipality. The city has a railway and bus station and is easily reached from Buenos Aires.