Pilgrimage Sites in Slovakia
Discover 9 sacred destinations in Slovakia
The first Christian church in Slovak lands was consecrated at Nitra in 828, and from there the faith reached the Western Slavs. Nitra remains the oldest episcopal see in the country. The mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius that followed is traced by the Cyril and Methodius Route.
Marian devotion carries the rest. Šaštín-Stráže holds the Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, patroness of Slovakia. Levoča is the country's foremost pilgrimage destination; tens of thousands gather each year at its Basilica of the Visitation. Marianka is the oldest pilgrimage site in Slovakia, grown around a 14th-century Madonna and a spring credited with healing — emperors and villagers have come to the same water. Trnava, known as the Slovak Rome, centres on the miraculous image of the Merciful Virgin Mary. At Banská Štiavnica the Calvary climbs a mining hillside through three churches and twenty-two chapels, the finest Baroque ensemble of its kind in Slovakia.
Banska Štiavnica
Banská Štiavnica is home to Slovakia's most important Baroque pilgrimage complex, the Kalvária Calvary with its three churches and 22 chapels.
Gaboltov
Shrine of Our Lady of the Scapular, a pilgrimage site since 1706 and the largest annual pilgrimage of Slovakia's Košice archdiocese.
Levoča
Levoča is Slovakia's most important Catholic pilgrimage destination, home to the Basilica of the Visitation where tens of thousands gather annually.
Litmanová
Greek Catholic village in northern Slovakia where the Theotokos appeared on Mount Zvir from 1990 to 1995, granted a nihil obstat in 2025.
Marianka
Slovakia's oldest pilgrimage site, where a miraculous 14th-century Madonna and sacred healing spring have drawn emperors and ordinary pilgrims for over six centuries.
Nitra
Nitra is the oldest episcopal see in Slovakia, where the first Christian church was consecrated in 828, marking the beginning of Christianity among the Western Slavs.
Staré Hory
Staré Hory, central Slovakia — a former mining village whose Basilica of the Visitation holds a grace-working Madonna from the early 1500s.
Šaštín-Stráže
Šaštín-Stráže hosts Slovakia's most important Marian shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, patron saint of Slovakia.
Trnava
Trnava, known as the Slovak Rome, is a significant Catholic pilgrimage destination centered around the miraculous Merciful Virgin Mary of Trnava.