Churches & monasteries

Sanctuary of Bardo

Above the Nysa Kłodzka river, at the foot of the Bardzkie Mountains, rises the Cistercian basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary — the heart of the metropolitan sanctuary of Our Lady, Guardian of the Faith. The baroque church was built in the years 1686–1704 under abbot Augustyn Nedeck, to a design by Michał Klein. Since 2004 the building has formally been a metropolitan sanctuary, and since 2008 it has borne the dignity of a minor basilica.

The figurine and the baroque interior

Devotion in Bardo is tied to the Miraculous Figurine of Our Lady of Bardo, present in the town certainly as early as the 12th century; today it is displayed in the main altar of the basilica. The interior is filled with works of the baroque: a tabernacle, pulpit, baptismal font and organ, with pride of place going to the main altar of 1715, a work by Mikołaj Richter with a painting of the Visitation of Saint Elizabeth. Two smaller churches, called the Czech and the German ones, had stood here before, no longer able to hold the arriving pilgrims.

In practice

Bardo, a town in the Ząbkowice county, combines the sanctuary with the charms of the Nysa Kłodzka valley, and a tour of the basilica can be paired with a stroll around the small town. The baroque church with the grace-famed figurine has attracted pilgrims for centuries, while visitors appreciate an interior counted among the richer ones in Silesia.