The largest pilgrimage centre in Croatia is Zagorje at Marija Bistrica, a village 37km north of Zagreb on the northern slopes of Mt Medvdnica. The focus of attention is the Marija Bistrica Church, which contains a wooden Gothic statue of the Madonna created in the 16th century. The statue’s alleged miraculous power dated back to the 16th century Turkish invasion when the statue was saved from destruction. Behind the church is the ‘Way of the Cross’, a path leading up Calvary Hill on which the 14 stations of the cross was marked with works by Croatian sculptors. The church attracts 600,000 visitors a year, but there were even more in 1998 when Pope John Paul II arrived to beautify Archbishop Stepinac.
There are 15 buses a day from Zagreb to Marija Bistrica from Monday to Saturday, and eight on Sunday.