Virgin Mary’s Sanctuary in Lichen

Lichen is the destination for many pilgrims. They come to see the painting of the Virgin Mary, the Sorrowful Queen of Poland, as well as the biggest Polish temple, probably one of the biggest sacred buildings in Europe.

Work on it started in 1994 and the sumptuous decorations are literally breathtaking. The temple, designed by Barbara Bielecka, is a five-nave transept cruciform basilica (Latin cross) with a semicircular chancel. Its façade is headed by an impressive column portico. The whole building is capped with an enormous golden dome, visible from the distance of almost twenty kilometers. It is estimated that the church can house 7000 people

The Stone Golgotha in Lichen
The miraculous painting is placed in St Dorota’s Church (neo-Gothic architecture). The tradition has it that it was discovered by Tomasz Kłossowski, a soldier and ex-landowner who had lost his fortune and became a blacksmith. He found it on his way back home from the Napoleonic wars  and hung the painting on a tree. Later, it turned out that it had miraculous powers. Apart from the new basilica and St Dorota’s Church, you can also visit the Virgin Mary’s Church or take a walk in the surrounding park to admire many sacred and patriotic objects, such as a stone Golgotha or the monument of pope John Paul II.

The Church in Skulsk
The cult of the Virgin Mary the Sorrowful has been present in Skulsk for a few centuries. These days though, it is experiencing its revival. The pilgrimage season starts here in early spring and lasts till late autumn. The place is most frequently visited during the September indulgence (8-15 September). The legend has it that the Bolesław Chrobry’s knights saw the Virgin Mary on an island called Kepa Skulska. The king order to erect a chapel in these boggy fields. Soon, the chapel became the destination of pilgrimages. Presently, the pilgrims visit a church that replaced the chapel in 1810. Its Gothic Pieta – a wooden sculpture, dated at approximately 1420, nested in the late Baroque altar, captures visitors’ attention.