Church of Our Lady of Trsat, Catholic pilgrimage church and minor basilica in Trsat, Rijeka, Croatia.
The Church of Our Lady of Trsat is a baroque sanctuary perched on a hilltop above Rijeka. The building with its distinctive façade and ornamental wrought-iron gates conveys both from inside and outside a sense of reverence and spiritual purpose.
A chapel built by Nikola I Frankapan stood on this site for nearly two centuries before Prince Martin Frankapan, with permission from Pope Nicholas V, began the church and Franciscan monastery in 1453, bringing friars from the Bosnian Vicariate. Guardian Franjo Glavinić started renovation and enlargement in August 1644, and in 1824 the church was lengthened by six metres and given the bell tower it had lacked. Pope Pius XI granted the title Basilica minor on 7 July 1930.
The shrine holds a venerated image of Our Lady of Trsat, whose arrival was celebrated on 1 July 2017 as its 650th anniversary, with Cardinal Josip Bozanić as Pope Francis's envoy. The graves of members of the Frankapan noble family and of Petar Kružić, builder of the stairway to the shrine, lie in the church. In 2015 it hosted the second National Meeting of Croatian Catholic Families.
Reaching the church involves climbing a long stairway from central Rijeka or taking a bus to the Trsat area, then walking the remaining distance. The routes are manageable for most visitors, though they do require some physical effort.
The venerated image of Our Lady of Trsat arrived in 1367, and its 650th anniversary was celebrated on 1 July 2017, when Pope Francis named Cardinal Josip Bozanić his special envoy. The shrine's treasury preserves votive gifts; several were carried in procession during the 700th anniversary in 1991.
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