The Shrine of Our Lady of Gaj
Monuments
ul. Maryjna 6, 32-031 Mogilany
Tourist region: Kraków i okolice
tel. +48 509945751
The church was built in a small valley below the village, and therefore is not visible from the main road. Although the church was built in the 17th century, it was completely rebuilt in the 19th century.
It is there where the miraculous image of Our Lady with the Infant [Jesus], painted on wood in the 15th century, is kept. The Marian worship developed two centuries later. Until the mid-19th century, Gaj was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Małopolska. Pilgrims left votive offerings, but many of them were given away to support national uprisings. Today, the Shrine in Gaj no longer attracts many pilgrims, but the number of those coming with small children is on the rise, as it is here that children receive the special traditional blessing before the image of Our Lady. The largest crowds of pilgrims visit the shrine on the Sunday closest to the 8th of September or the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is the Parish festival.
