Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludźmierz

During the coronation in 1963, the sceptre slipped from the hand of the statue of the Virgin Mary and was caught by a young bishop, Karol Wojtyła. Years later many saw this as a sign of his election as pope. Ludźmierz, the oldest parish in the Podhale highlands, has drawn the local Górale people for centuries to a statue known as the Gaździna Podhala, roughly "the Mistress of the Podhale household". It is the second most important pilgrimage centre in the Archdiocese of Kraków after Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.

History: from the Gryfita family to a basilica

The story of Ludźmierz begins in 1234, when Teodor of the Gryfita family, the governor of Kraków, received the right to found settlements in Podhale and began building a larch-wood church here. He also brought in Cistercian monks, who built a wooden monastery next to it, but around 1245 they moved to Szczyrzyc, probably because of raids and attacks by brigands. They nevertheless ran the parish until 1824. The present neo-Gothic church was built in 1869–1877 on the site of the dismantled wooden one, and in 2001 it was made a minor basilica.

The Gaździna Podhala

The wooden statue of the Virgin and Child came to the church around 1400; neither its maker nor its donor is known. It is about 125 cm tall and stands in the Rococo high altar brought over from the old church. Legend says that a Hungarian merchant carrying wine to the fair in Nowy Targ got stuck at night in the Ludźmierz marshes. When he began to pray, a radiant woman appeared, led him back to the road and brought him to the church, and where he knelt a spring burst from the ground. In gratitude the merchant paid for a statue resembling the woman he had seen.

What to see

• The statue of Our Lady of Ludźmierz in the basilica's high altar.
• The spring with a replica of the statue at the entrance to the sanctuary; its water is also believed to have healing powers.
• The Rosary Garden commemorating John Paul II's visit in 1997, with a life-size statue of the pope kneeling, an unusual pose among his monuments.
• The organ with 26 stops, brought from St John's Church in Oldenburg in Holstein, Germany.

Did you know?

The statue was crowned on 15 August 1963 by Primate Stefan Wyszyński, while Karol Wojtyła was then a bishop in Kraków. When the sceptre slipped from the statue's hand, the bishop caught it before it hit the ground, and after 1978 the moment came to be read as a prophecy. Copies of the Ludźmierz statue have gone to places including Bethlehem and Chicago. The tradition of highland pilgrimages to Ludźmierz was described by the writer Władysław Orkan in his novel "W roztokach", and the "Ludźmierz Vespers" by composer Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz represented Polish culture at Expo 98 in Lisbon.

Tripto tip

The biggest celebrations take place on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption, and on the first Sunday of September, when the highlanders hold a harvest festival in honour of Our Lady of Sowing. You will see traditional costumes then, but also crowds and full car parks. A quiet visit to the basilica, garden and spring takes 45–60 minutes, ideally outside Mass times. Ludźmierz is a few kilometres from Nowy Targ, so it is an easy stop on the way to Zakopane. Remember that this is an active shrine: do not walk around the church during services.