Croats Celebrate Velika Gospa With Mass Pilgrims
- by croatiaweek
- in Latest
(Gospa – Photo Credit: Sinj Tourist Board)
Croats on Saturday celebrate Velika Gospa (The Assumption of the Virgin Mary), with mass pilgrims…
August 15, which is a public holiday in Croatia. is one of the biggest days on the religious calendar, and Croats will mark the occasion by descending on the town of Sinj on Friday to kneel in front of the world-famous shrine, the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj. More than 100,000 people are expected to make the journey to Sinj.
The shrine of Our Lady of Sinj has been present from around 1771. Four chapels were built on the lateral sides of church which are connected to the shrine via three doors, where believers make confessions. Next to the shrine there is a 43.5 metre-high steeple, built between 1896 and 1927.
Croats have maintained a special love and devotion to the Great Lady Mary for over 200 years and there will be pilgrims to other fwell known Marian towns in Croatia such as Marija Bistrica, Krasno in Split and Trsat in Rijeka.
