Friday, September 4, 2009

Croatia and pilgrimage!

I love reading the nyt.com travel section, learning and re-learning about places and people I've long forgotten.

Today, the nyt.com highlited Croatia, which reminded me of this famous pilgrimage site, with help from dictionary.com: Medugorje, on the border with Croatia.

Međugorje ([ˈmɛdʑu.ɡɔːrjɛ], roughly Pronunciation respelling key) is a town located in western Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina, around 25 km southwest of Mostar and close to the border of Croatia. Today the town is best known due to reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary which appeared to six Herzegovinian Croats since 24 June 1981, and is now visited by pilgrims from around the entire world as a shrine.

The name Međugorje literally means an "area between mountains". At an altitude of 200 metres above sea level, it has a mild Mediterranean climate. The town consists of an ethnically-homogeneous Croat population of over 4000, and the Roman Catholic Parish (local administrative and religious area) consists of five neighbouring villages (Međugorje, Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci).

It would be a fascinating pilgrimage experience!

Pace!

B

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