Monastery at Kalwaria

Madonna of Kalwaria

Main Altar in the Sanctuary

Inside the Main Chapel at Kalwaria

In 1600 Poland’s first Calvary sanctuary was established in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a town in the Carpathian Foothills 33 km southwest of Krakow, to provide pilgrims with a substitute of Jerusalem lost to the Muslim Turks and thus unavailable. With its 42 churches and chapels of all shapes and sizes, in addition to the central basilica and the Franciscan monastery, the vast complex of buildings scattered among woods on the slopes of the 527-meter-high Zar mountain grew to be the biggest such compound in Europe. It is also Poland’s second most important historic destination for pilgrims and Europe's biggest Calvary shrine.  The 17th-century Baroque church of the Angelic Mother of God adjoins the Franciscan monastery of the same age. Their most worshiped place is The chapel with Our Lady of Kalwaria’s miraculous picture, followed by the chapel of St. Anthony of Padua. It is the starting point of several overlapping pilgrimage circuits, the Passion Path in the first place, laid out in hilly woodland from one Baroque chapel to another. Each of the 42 tiny churches is different and represents a Jerusalem site prominent in the New Testament and/or the Christian tradition, be it the Virgin Mary’s Cottage or Herod’s Place, while hills and streams bear such names as Zion, Golgotha, and Mount of Olives.

The chapels are to be found over a 6Km walk surrounding the Basilica. Within the Basilica itself are several beautiful chapels. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a place of worship for both the Passion of Christ and Marian devotion. The Passion of Christ worship shows itself in the service of Jesus Christ’s Avenues and in the Passion celebrations of the Holy week, whereas the Marian devotion in Our Lady’s Avenues service, the Burial and Triumph of Our Lady’s Procession, and in worshipping the miraculous image of Our Lady of Kalwaria, which has been there since 1641. It should Devotion to Our Lady is devotion to Jesus Christ as they complement each other very closely - Mary’s Mysteries intermingle with the Mysteries of Jesus Christ.

“This place wondrously helps the heart and mind to gain deeper insight into the mystery of that bond which united the suffering Saviour and his co-suffering Mother. At the centre of this mystery of love everyone who comes here rediscovers himself, his life, his daily existence, his weakness and, at the same time, the power of faith and hope: that power which springs up from the assurance that the Mother does not abandon her children at times of trouble, but leads them to her Son and entrusts them to his mercy.”
John Paul II, Kalwaria, 19 August 2002