Europe 2019 - Day 28

3 June 2019, Monday 

Today we go to a very old monastery built from 1600, called the Kalwaria Zebrzydowski.

In the year 1600, the squire of Krakow, Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, commissioned on the mountain of Zarek the building of the Church of the Sacred Cross, modelled on the Church of Golgotha in Jerusalem. At the ceremonial blessing of the church on 4 October 1601, he decided to build a Chapel of the Tomb of Christ, also similar to the church in Jerusalem. 

To ensure that the holy complex was looked after, Mikolaj Zebrzydowski invited to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the Franciscan Fathers and Brothers - in Polish called Bernardyni - who had also cared for the holy places in Jerusalem for over 300 years. Thus in 1602 he started to build a monastery with an attached small church. The building of the monastery and church was completed in 1609. The building of the chapels of the stations of the Cross (24 in total) took until 1617. 

Almost as soon as it was completed, pilgrims started to flock and take part in the ‘New Jerusalem’ service of the Passion of Our Lord according to the ritual laid down by the resident monks. It has been visited by many prominent visitors, including royal families, bishops, and Pope John Paul II. Today it has 42 churches and chapels of all shapes and sizes in addition to the central basilica and the Franciscan monastery, the vast complex of buildings scattered among woods on the slopes of the 527-meter-high Zarek mountain, making it the biggest such compound in Europe. The Kalwaria Zebrzydowska monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We went to the main bus station and got our tickets. From the bus station in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, we had to walk about 2 km uphill to the monastery and the Basilica. About 1 km later, the path became even steeper so that we were sweating and panting by the time we reached the Basilica. And then a beautiful sight awaited us. In front of the Basilica was a statue of Pope John Paul II. The Basilica itself was really a thing of beauty. There are some places where you can feel a sort of presence, an aura or just something powerful in the atmosphere. This is one such place. 

The monastery is situated just beside the Basilica, and adjacent to the Basilica was a dorm I guess for pilgrims from afar to stay. We took one path, the Path of Our Lady up another small but steep hill to see a small cluster of chapels at the top. I saw a few friars and I surreptitiously took a picture of one. I don’t know what it is about friars that gets me so excited. I guess it’s the romanticisation of Friar Tuck of the Robin Hood fame. 

And then we were done and made our way back to Krakow. The sun is really shining out today but the wind is nice and cool so it’s nice weather actually, unlike Malaysia where it’s hot and sunny and the wind is also hot, the atmosphere humid so that you are sweating the moment you step outside. But still, I won’t trade Malaysia for the world!

We actually wanted to visit another place called the Wieliczka Salt Mine, but we didn’t have enough time. But even if we went there I would’ve have gone in because the entrance fee is about 90 zloty and I’ve already seen the biggest salt mine in the world in Bolivia.

So then we were done, pretty early so we bought some groceries for our long bus ride tomorrow, dinner (roast chicken leg from Carrefour) and beer. I tried yet another Polish brand called Zubr. This is leaning on the bitter side but still quite nice. Then I did some blogging and reading, shower and sleep.