Among the green hills of Hrvatsko zagorje lies the national shrine of Saint Mary of Marija Bistrica, the most famous and visited Croatia’s sanctuary of the Virgin Mary. A great number of believers from Croatia and abroad have been coming for a pilgrimage at Marija Bistrica for centuries, seeking and finding spiritual peace.
The shrine in Marija Bistrica became a national shrine as early as in 1715, when the Croatian Parliament erected a great votive altar.
Pope Pius XI. (1922 – 1939) on December 4, 1923, assigned the shrine of Saint Mary of Marija Bistrica the title of Minor basilica. The landmark event in the history of the Church is certainly a visit of Pope John Paul II., when he declared Archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Viktor Stepinac a martyr and beatified him on October 3, 1998.
National shrine of Saint Mary of Marija Bistrica
