When we decided to extend our time around Krakow, it allowed us to look at places we would not have been able to see on our original itinerary. One of those was Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa.
Jasna Gora is a monastery dedicated to Mary. It is most famous for a painting of Mary holding Jesus that is called the Black Madonna. This painting is supposed to cure people of illnesses and it has become a pilgrimage site for believers.
It was about 150 kilometers one way to Czestochowa, so we were on our way around 10 am. Our Corolla feels like a luxury car after our previous rentals of a Fiat Panda, and a Lancia Ypsilon we had in Italy. It also makes a difference cruising at 120 kph (I couldn’t quite bring myself to go the 140 kph speed limit which is 87 mph) vs 95kph we usually drive François.
We were not quite sure what to expect, so we were both quite surprised at the size of the place when we drove up. The tower of the basilica is one of the tallest in Poland, and the entire complex is surrounded by thick walls as it also served as a fort. The fort was strong enough to withstand a siege by the Swedes in the 1640’s.
The chapel with the Black Madonna is not in the main basilica but in its own church attached to the basilica. The walls around the chapel are covered with religious icons and plaques in honor of Polish military units including many from WWII. One wall is covered in crutches and other medical devices that people left after being cured by the Madonna.
One of the plaques was dedicated to Solidarity which was the organization of workers starting in Gdansk which helped to bring down the Polish Communist Government in the 1980’s. The leader of Solidarity Lech Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize for his actions in freeing the Polish People. He was an avid Catholic and the Peace Prize is on display at Jasna Gora.
Jasna Gora is a pilgrimage site with people walking to the monastery from all over Poland. The last 1.5 kilometers thru town have a dedicated perfectly straight path that allows the pilgrims to view the monastery as they complete their pilgrimage. It is quite impressive.
This is the third pilgrimage site we have visited, and while we knew less about it than the others it made quite an impression. The other two sites (Fatima in Portugal, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain) where surrounded by more commercialism, while there were some restaurants and a couple of souvenir stores the over feel was not focused on tourism, but religion . Jasna Gora felt a little more spiritual than those sites did.
On these trips I learn little things about Ton that I didn’t know even after 43 years. I always knew that Ton was fascinated with the stations of the cross in catholic churches. While she never converted, she did attend a catholic boarding school for many years and went to mass every week. Jasna Gora had the stations of the cross in large statues that you took in by walking the walls of the fort. Today I learned that she really likes the 6th station, which is known as Veronica wiping the face of Jesus.
We really enjoyed Jasna Gora. It was beautiful and powerful, yet simple.
