Poland’s Black Madonna shrine aims to join European network

The Black Madonna shrine in Częstochowa, southern Poland, intends to join a new European association that is set to be established under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

The Jasna Góra monastery in the southern Polish city of Częstochowa, home to the country's revered Black Madonna icon. Photo: Aw58 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],

via Wikimedia Commons

The planned Shrines of Europe Association would help its members create a common brand and marketing strategy with a view to promoting European shrines as tourist centres.

The association would evolve from the Shrines of Europe group, which was founded in 1996 and currently brings together seven sites: Lourdes in France, Altötting in Germany, Loreto in Italy, Fátima in Portugal, Mariazell in Austria, and Einsiedeln in Switzerland, alongside Poland’s Częstochowa.

A tourist route linking the seven shrines is expected to be set up by the Council of Europe, which is an international human rights organisation with 47 member states.

According to the Częstochowa City Council, membership in the Shrines of Europe Association would help the city’s Black Madonna shrine receive international funding.

The Black Madonna monastery in Częstochowa is one of Europe’s most popular Catholic shrines.

Last year, it attracted 4.3 million visitors, over 120,000 of whom arrived at the site on foot in pilgrimages.

(mk/gs)