Lichen Stary is a small village near Konin. The shrine located there is one of the largest Marian Shrines in Poland and is visited annually by around 1.5 million pilgrims and tourists. In 1852 a wonderful image of Our Lady of Lichen was installed in the church in Lichen.

Beginning in 1994, over a ten year period, the largest temple in the country was built here and the seventh largest in Europe. The monumental building is 139m long and can hold up to 20,000 pilgrims but in square in front of the temple there is space for some 250,000 more. Next to the temple is a free-standing tower nearly 130m high. Visible from a distance, the huge dome of the basilica has a diameter of 36m and a height of 45m. In the belfry is a Mary, Mother of God Bell, which weighs nearly 15 tons and is the largest bell in Poland.

In 2006 the wonderful painting of Our Lady of Lichen was taken into the basilica. This small image from the second half of the 18th century was painted onto a thin strip of larch wood. In 1967 it was ceremoniously crowned. In the central part of the sanctuary area is a 25m mound which is constructed from cement and stones – this is the Lichen Golgotha.

Shrine of Our Lady – Lichen (woj. Wielkopolskie)

www.lichen.pl