3 / 5 - One review
How to get there
124 miles from Warsaw and 87 miles from Kraków
When to go
August if planning to see the pilgrimage
Minimum stay
One day
Częstochowa (Poland)
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Flickr cc Jordi Escuer
Practical information on Częstochowa
Reviews of Częstochowa
Czestochowa, a holy city in Poland, attracts tens of thousands of faithful visitors every year, who come to engage in silent prayer before the portrait of the Black Madonna.
My suggestion:
The main pilgrimage takes place on the 15th of August, a day on which the city is absolutely swarmed with people. So decide whether that's something you would like to see or not.
My review
The sense of religious fervour you get in Czestochowa, a city of around 250,000 inhabitants is unlike anywhere else in Poland. This is due to the presence of the magnificent Jasna Góra Monastery here, which houses a revered religious icon: the Black Madonna. The monastery dates back to the 13th century and is without doubt one of the most beautiful religious monuments in the whole country, and definitely worth a visit.
When processions take place – which attract millions of visitors each year who come to engage in private prayer, some walking tens of miles to do so – the city gets absolutely chock-full of people, and this can make visiting difficult, unless you happen to enjoy people-watching!
In summary, unless you have a particular interest in Catholicism, Czestochowa isn't necessarily an essential place to see when visiting Poland, especially with its city centre being quite a nondescript place.
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flickr cc Waldemar Jan
64 travelers' photos
