Category

Marian Shrines

Places of apparition, devotion and healing.

Marian shrines draw more pilgrims than any other Christian destination. This guide to the most famous shrines of the Virgin Mary covers the apparition sites, basilicas and healing springs that millions visit each year — feast days, pilgrimage seasons, what happened at each shrine and how to plan a visit around the busiest processions.

5 destinations

5/5 Significance

Selçuk, Turkey

Ephesus

Paul lived here for three years, and his preaching once caused a riot. The ruins are some of the best kept in the world.

5/5 · Scripturally central

3/5 Significance

Chartres, France

Chartres Cathedral

A huge old French church with 176 original stained-glass windows and a stone maze that pilgrims still walk.

3/5 · Well attested

2/5 Significance

Lourdes, France

Sanctuary of Lourdes

A cave in the French mountains where a 14-year-old girl said Mary appeared to her in 1858. Six million people visit every year.

2/5 · Historically linked

2/5 Significance

Mexico City, Mexico

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The most visited Catholic shrine in the world, built around a cloak with an image of Mary that has been shown since 1531.

2/5 · Historically linked

2/5 Significance

Fátima, Portugal

Sanctuary of Fátima

In 1917 three shepherd children said Mary appeared to them six times here. A crowd of 70,000 saw a strange event in the sky.

2/5 · Historically linked