First pilgrimages to Wambierzyce took place in the 13th century. The beginning of this phenomenon is connected with a story that the blind John of Ratno at this point regained his sight and his eyes saw the figure of Mary with Child. In place of the wooden chapel from 1263 and after a failed attempt to build the church at the end of the 17th century (construction collapsed), between 1716 and 1721 Earl FA von Gotzen founded today's impressive Baroque basilica of the Visitation of Mary. It is an oval central chapel surrounded by loggias and 11 smaller chapels. A small shrine with figure of Mary (28 cm) from the 14th century is placed in the main altar.
According to the founder’s idea, the whole surrounding area was supposed to resemble biblical city of Jerusalem, hence the surrounding hills were called Sinai, Tabor, Mount Horeb, or Zion. 92 chapels and Stations of the Cross were built in the countryside.
The pilgrimages to Wambierzyce intensified particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Then, the term Silesian Jerusalem appeared.
One of the attractions of Wambierzyce is a moving crib, over which for 28 years worked a resident of Wambierzyce - Longinus Wittig. Out of the total number of 800 figures, 300 are moving.
website: www.wambierzyce.pl