Swieta Lipke

The story is told of a criminal facing execution who had a dream of the Virgin Mary. He was told to make a carving of Mary, and he was to place the carving in the 1st linden tree he saw after being released. When the carving was found in his cell, he was exonerated and released. He placed the carving in the tree and left.
The tree became known as the Holy Linden or Swieta Lipke in Polish and became associated with many miracles. And the small town took that name.
After the original tree died, a church dedicated to Mary was built. It is one of the finest baroque churches in Poland.
The 1st picture is of that church, and the 2nd is a detail of the gate. The 3rd shows part of the cloister and the decoration, similar to frescoes. The 4th picture is a mosaic of Mary within a linden tree placed on the outside of the rear wall of the church. The 5th and 6th pictures are in the church itself.
There is still an active Jesuit monastery here at what is the 2nd most important Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in Poland after Czestochowa. I will visit Czestochowa later on.Read more