Basilica of the Visitation in Wambierzyce

A monumental stone staircase leads up to the basilica in Wambierzyce: 56 steps, with 33 in the central flight symbolising the years of Christ's life. Above it rises a palace-like façade 52.5 m high, its balustrade lined with statues of the apostles. The village below the Table Mountains is known as the "Silesian Jerusalem" and has drawn pilgrims for centuries to the figure of Our Lady of Wambierzyce, Queen of Families.

History: from a figure on a tree to a basilica

Tradition holds that in the 12th century a figure of the Virgin was placed on a tree on this hill. The chronicles record that in 1218 a blind man, Jan of Raszewo, regained his sight here, and in 1263 the first wooden church was built. Ludwig von Panwitz erected a brick church in 1512, but it was wrecked in the Thirty Years' War.

The church built in 1695–1711, funded by Daniel von Osterberg, soon began to collapse and was pulled down in 1714. Today's basilica went up in 1715–1723 thanks to Count Franz Anton von Goetzen. This corrects some descriptions that date the present building to 1695–1711.

What to see inside

• The Virgin and Child, a lime-wood figure 28 cm tall from the late 14th century. The Child holds a little bird, and the figure is dressed in robes whose colour follows the liturgical year.
• The high altar and the pulpit of 1723, both by Karl Sebastian Flacker. The pulpit illustrates the Magnificat, and personifications of four continents sit on its canopy.
• Baroque paintings and sculptures, plus 19th-century side altars in the chancel niches.

The calvary and the moving nativity scene

An extensive calvary surrounds the basilica. Osterberg had the first wooden chapels built in 1683; they did not survive, and the complex was rebuilt many times in the 18th and 19th centuries. The surrounding hills bear biblical names: the church stands on Zion, opposite is Calvary, and the stream is the Kidron. The Stations of the Cross on Calvary Hill date from 1732.

At the foot of Calvary is a mechanical nativity scene from the second half of the 19th century. Longin Wittig began it around 1850, and his son Hermann added more scenes, including a coal mine and a village festival.

Did you know?

In 1936 Pope Pius XI made the church a minor basilica – his coat of arms is on the façade. On 17 August 1980 Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński crowned the figure as Our Lady of Wambierzyce, Queen of Families. Franciscans have run the shrine since 2007.

Tripto tips

According to the shrine's website the basilica is open daily 7:00–19:00; from May to September there is also an evening service at 21:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Allow an hour for the basilica and the stairs, and another for the calvary and the nativity scene. The façade looks best in the evening when it is floodlit. Please be respectful of worshippers during Mass.