Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Pilgrim Paths: A Jerusalem Near Kraków

Po polsku: Dróżki Kalwaryjskie

What if a nobleman decided that the hills around his estate looked a lot like Jerusalem, and built a whole landscape of chapels to prove it? That is the story of the Dróżki Kalwaryjskie (Calvary Paths) in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, next to the Bernardine monastery, about 35 km south-west of Kraków. Mikołaj Zebrzydowski had the first chapel built in 1600. Today the paths have 42 sites and are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Map of the pilgrim paths

Two routes: the Paths of the Lord Jesus and the Paths of Our Lady

The paths cover an area of 6 km². The Dróżki Pana Jezusa (Paths of the Lord Jesus) are about 6 to 7 km long. The Dróżki Matki Bożej (Paths of Our Lady) are about 5 km long.

The 42 chapels and churches were built to resemble buildings in the Holy Land. Many places are named after real places in Jerusalem.

• The Paths of the Lord Jesus have 28 stations in 24 buildings. They follow the story of the crucifixion in order. It starts on Holy Thursday (Wielki Czwartek) at the Upper Room and ends with the death and burial on Good Friday (Wielki Piątek). Along the way you pass chapels such as the Upper Room (Wieczernik), the Garden of Gethsemane (Ogrójec), the Arrest at the Kidron, the houses of Annas and Caiaphas, Herod’s Palace and Pilate’s House.
• The Paths of Our Lady have 24 stations in 11 buildings. They show Mary’s sorrow at the cross, the burial of Jesus and the triumph after the resurrection. Some chapels belong to both routes, for example the Church of the Tomb of Our Lady, the Upper Room and the Church of the Crucifixion.

The complex also includes buildings that are not part of the Way of the Cross, or are only loosely linked to the Passion. Examples are Bethsaida, the Church of the Ascension and the Hermitage of St Mary Magdalene.

History of the Calvary Paths

It all began in 1600. Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, the voivode of Kraków (the royal governor of the province), built the Chapel of the Crucifixion on Żarek hill. He based it on a plaster model of the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. The model was brought from Jerusalem by Hieronim Strzała, a courtier at Lanckorona castle. Soon after, Zebrzydowski decided to build a chapel of Christ’s Tomb, based on a model of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

A turning point came around 1604. Zebrzydowski read a book by Christian Adrichomius describing Jerusalem in the time of Christ. He decided to found stations of the Passion. He also noticed that his lands between Lanckorona and Żarek looked like the layout of Jerusalem.

So the local landscape got new names:

• Żarek hill became Golgotha.
• The hill near Lanckorona became the Mount of Olives.
• The hill near today’s Caiaphas’ House chapel became Mount Zion.
• The rise where Pilate’s Town Hall was to stand became Mount Moriah.
• The river Skawinka became the Kidron (Cedron).

The land was measured by Fr Feliks Żebrowski, a mathematician and astronomer and a friend of Zebrzydowski. The chapels are known for their original architecture and careful finish. They were built between 1605 and 1617.

Nature on the paths

In 1999 the area of the paths, together with the basilica and monastery, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The reasons were its natural, cultural and religious value. The official Polish name is Krajobrazowy Zespół Manierystycznego Parku w Kalwarii Zebrzydowskiej (roughly: the Mannerist landscape park complex in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska).

You will walk under many trees here. Common beech, horse chestnut, broad-leaved lime, pedunculate oak, maple, silver birch, ash and black locust all grow along the routes. Many of the trees are very old.

The Bernardine friars were already looking after the routes in the 17th century. They planted lime trees along them to give shade to pilgrims in hot weather. A document from 1705 by the guardian (the superior) of the Bernardine monastery tells us that he asked townspeople not to break branches off the trees on the paths.

There are also elder and wild rose bushes. Wildflowers include oxeye daisy, meadow buttercup, meadow sage, forget-me-not and meadowsweet. With luck you can spot woodpeckers, sparrows, great tits and squirrels.

Festivals on the paths

Pilgrims come in the largest numbers for Marian feasts (celebrating the Virgin Mary): Our Lady of the Angels (2 August) and the Nativity of Our Lady (8 September). The biggest event is the several-day celebration of the Assumption (Wniebowzięcie). It is the largest feast in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska and one of the largest of its kind in Poland.

The main Assumption celebration is held on the Sunday after 15 August. The odpust (the festival with pilgrimage and special indulgences) begins on the Tuesday before that Sunday.

Events linked to the Passion take place on Good Friday, including a staged reenactment of the Passion.

My tip: on feast days the paths get very busy, so if you prefer a quieter walk, choose another day. Wear comfortable shoes and check the weather, because most of the walk is outdoors.

More guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska