Introducing Meðugorje

Međugorje is a remarkable place – a religious tourist resort attracting Catholics worldwide – and when the Irish are in town there’s plenty of craic (and Guinness) to be had. Whether you come as a sceptic or as a pilgrim, you’ll be amazed by this conjunction of belief and commercialism.

On 24 June 1981 six teenagers in this once dirt-poor village claimed they’d seen a miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary, and Međugorje’s cash registers began to ring out. Now Međugorje is awash with pilgrims, tour buses and tacky souvenir shops.

The Catholic Church hasn’t officially acknowledged the apparitions (the first in Europe since Lourdes, France, in 1858 and Fatima, Portugal, in 1917). Three of the original six still claim to see the vision daily, while the Virgin Mary only appears to the others on special days.

The crowds swell around Easter for the Walk of Peace celebrating the anniversary of the first appearance in 1981, the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) and the Nativity of the Virgin (first Sunday after 8 September). Međugorje can be visited as a day trip from Mostar.