Swieta Lipka is a small town where, since the 15th century, it was a place for many pilgrimages. Every year over 100,000 tourists come to Mazuria to visit this shrine of Our Lady. According to local folklore, in the 14th century a prisoner held in the dungeons of Ketrzyn Castle, thanks to the intervention of Our Lady, was instructed to carve a figure of Her with The Child Jesus out of wood.

After finishing the carving he was released and hung the figurine in a lime tree on the road from Ketrzyn to Reszel. A chapel was built on the site but it has not survived to this day as it was destroyed at the time of the Reformation. In the 17th century a new chapel was built but it proved too small to cope with the increasing pilgrim traffic. Between 1688 and 1693 the current basilica was erected. The complex includes a church, cloisters and a jesuit monastery.

Entrance to the church courtyard is through an extremely ornate gate from the first half of the 18th century. In the basilica, visitors can wonder at the Baroque organ with moving figures which were made in 1721. On the main altar you can find the image of Our Lady of Swieta Lipska painted in 1640 by Bartholomew Pens. The image is covered by a silver dress made by Samuel Grew, a goldsmith from Krolewiec.

Shrine of Our Lady in Swita Lipka (woj. Warmińsko-Mazurskie)

www.swlipka.org.pl