Around Mostar - Medjugorje

28
May

Medjugorje, 27 km from Mostar, has become one of the most popular pilgrim attractions in the Catholic world since 24th June 1981, when a group of teenagers witnessed the apparition of the Virgin Mary, near the village of Podbrdo, in that very place that was afterwards called the Hill of the Apparition.The “Miracle of Mary of Međugore” has radically transformed this small town into a sort of ‘global city’, constantly visited by Catholics arriving from all over the world. The busiest periods are around Easter (when the anniversary of the fi rst apparition is celebrated with a procession known as the ‘Walk of Peace’), the Day of the Assumption (15th August) and the Birth of the Virgin (first Sunday after 8th September). The Church of St. James, built in 1969, is a centre for various religious activities. Behind the building itself, there is a path that leads to the Resurrected Saviour, a statue from which constantly fl ow drops of blessed water. On the way leading to the Hill of the Apparition there are the 14 Stations of the Way of the Cross, where pilgrims stop in prayer. The Križevac Mount, at 2.5 km south-west of Međugorje, features a large stone cross that was erected in 1934. The whole area is full of hotels, restaurants and well-supplied souvenir shops, which welcome the crowds of religious followers and visitors all the year round. From Mostar, there are frequent daily coach services (Mostar Bus Company) leaving from the bus station (Autobusni kolodvor, in Vukovarska b.b.), going to Međugorje.The service does not run on Sundays.