Wishing Shrine - Tucson, Arizona
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 32° 12.970 W 110° 58.481
12S E 502385 N 3564396
Only shrine in the United States dedicated to dedicated to the soul of a sinner buried in unconsecrated ground in Tucson, Arizona
Waymark Code: WMHJ3B
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 07/14/2013
Views: 11
The WISHING SHRINE, W. Simpson and S. Main Sts, is a semicircle of weathered adobe bricks. According to one account it is the resting place of Juan Oliveras, Mexican youth murdered by his father-in-law for an illicit love affair with his mother-in-law. Following the Mexican custom in such cases, young Oliveras was buried where he fell, without rites of his church, in the year 1880. Mexican women afterwards burned candles over Juan s grave for the salvation of his soul. The shrine gradually came to be used by parents praying for wayward daughters. Finally the superstition arose that anyone who placed a lighted candle on the grave and made a wish would have the wish granted by dawn, providing the candle burned to its base.
Variously shaped racks holding candles are within the adobe semi circle. The bricks are blackened and soaked with candle grease. The appearance of the Wishing Shrine, viewed in the too-honest sunshine, is disappointing. It is after dark when the tiny flame of a candle or two flickers over the adobes, softening hard lines and inviting the imagination that the Wishing Shrine comes into its own..- Arizona: A State Guide, Tucson section, pg. 260.
The Shine is much as described in the Guide. Known more by its Spanish name, El Tiradito. The shrine continues to be visited often. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.