Sanctuary on Święta Góra in Głogówko

On a hill in Głogówko, a settlement located 1.5 km east of Gostyń in the Gostyń county, stands the baroque monastery complex of the Filippini with the basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Philip Neri. The church, modelled on the Venetian basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, conceals the largest historic dome in Poland, and the whole complex holds the title of Historic Monument. It is one of the principal Marian sanctuaries of Greater Poland.

From a pagan hill to the monastery

The history of the place begins in the 11th century, when the Benedictines founded a monastery nearby (1075), giving the hill a Christian character — before that it served pagan functions. In the 14th century a small chapel with a miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin already stood here, and in 1512 a timber-and-framed church of the Visitation was erected. The present baroque basilica began to rise in 1675 in honour of Saint Philip Neri, and the care of the sanctuary was taken over by the Filippini.

In practice

The complex is reached by a road from Gostyń, which pilgrims cover on foot, and the visit takes in the basilica with its dome, the monastery and the surroundings of the hill. Attention deserves the interior of the church, where beside the dome baroque details delight, as well as the wall decorated with likenesses of the apostles.