Górka Klasztorna Sanctuary

Górka Klasztorna near Łobżenica is regarded as the oldest Marian sanctuary in Poland. According to tradition, in 1079 the Virgin Mary with the Child appeared here to a shepherd at a well in the Górka Grove. Today it is a complex with a baroque basilica, a monastery of the Missionaries of the Holy Family, a "miraculous" well and a park with a reconstructed pagan stone circle.

History: from apparition to basilica

Seventeenth-century Bernardine chroniclers recorded that the apparition took place on Whit Monday, less than two months after the murder of Bishop Stanislaus in Kraków. Tradition speaks of a first oak chapel from 1111. During the Reformation, in 1575, Urszula Krotowska had it burned down. On 2 July 1638 the Bernardines were solemnly installed in Górka; construction of the present church lasted until 1728, and on 17 October of that year Bishop Franciszek Kraszkowski consecrated it. The Prussian authorities dissolved the monastery on 15 September 1841.

Fire and a new image

On the night of 24–25 April 1907 fire broke out in the church. The high altar with the miraculous image burned, the organ melted, and valuables estimated at 60,000 gold marks were lost; it was suspected that the church had first been robbed and then set alight. The present image of Our Lady of Górka was painted by Professor Jerzy Hoppen of Toruń, who finished it on 15 May 1954. On 6 June 1965 Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński crowned the image with papal crowns, and on 14 June 2015 the church was granted the title of minor basilica.

War and the Missionaries

In 1923 the Missionaries of the Holy Family took charge of the sanctuary, and the name Górka Klasztorna dates from then; that autumn they opened a minor seminary for 30 students. During the Second World War the Germans set up a camp for British prisoners of war here, and from autumn 1943 a training camp for labour service units. The image was hidden in Bydgoszcz, while Poles slipped over the walls to draw water from the well.

What to see

• The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception with the crowned image of Our Lady of Górka.
• The well at the site of the apparition, whose water the faithful consider miraculous.
• The granite stone in the porch – carved with crosses, the IHS monogram and an ancient swastika, a sun symbol; it may have served as a font.
• The reconstructed stone circle in the monastery park; its authenticity is disputed.

Tripto tips

Górka Klasztorna is part of the village of Rataje in the Łobżenica municipality, Piła County. Allow about 1.5 hours for the basilica, the well and the park. Passion plays are staged here during Lent, and in summer the "Maria Carmen" festival takes place – expect crowds then. Outside services, visit with respect for those at prayer.