As I talked about visiting this WHS, I expected that my Polish friends would kindly reject my suggestion and that I would have to drive alone from Krakow to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. But on the contrary, they liked my idea and they even convinced me to go there on a highly frequented day. So six people, none of us very religious, set off for a pilgrimage on a Saturday in August, one day after Assumption Day.

When we arrived at the Calvary at 10.30 am, the car park was already half full. There were a lot of stalls along the way to the Basilica selling devotional objects and pictures of the Pope (the Polish Pope of course), but also books, toys and the omnipresent Oscypek cheese. We first went to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels and the adjacent monastery, we arrived just between two services, nevertheless the church was full of worshippers and pilgrims. This is definitely a site where normal tourists and WHS enthusiasts are in the minority. The Basilica is not really outstanding, the interior is a bit too colourful for my taste, too much gold and many painted angels. But the forecourt with the surrounding buildings is quite pretty, except for the kitschy Pope statue (again the Polish Pope of course).

Much more interesting are the chapels, more than 40 of them are spread over the hilly countryside. The buildings have different shapes, designs and ground plans, one is even heart-shaped, their sizes range from tiny chapels to a two-storey church. The photo shows one of the larger chapels, Pilate's Town Hall and the Sacred Stairs.

You can choose between two pilgrim paths, which more or less follow the same route, but in opposite directions. One is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the other to the life of the Virgin Mary. Rather by chance we took the red-marked path that represents the Passion of Christ. There were a lot of people on the route, individual pilgrims and also small and large groups. The largest group we met were about 200 people walking behind a brass band, they did not sound very spiritual, but rather cheerful like at a festival. At the Church of the Sepulchre of the Blessed Mary, we witnessed how a statue of the Virgin Mary was adorned and prepared for the procession, we were able to take a close look from the upper gallery.

We enjoyed our hike through the beautiful landscape, the variety of buildings and monuments, and our rich picnic at the end of our "pilgrimage". I would not add the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska to a list of my top WHS, this kind of Mannerism-Baroque artwork and decoration is not my favourite style. But I liked very much the festive and cheerful atmosphere. If I may borrow the scoring system of one of the most frequent reviewers on this website, I would say: [Site 3: Experience 7].