Plungė District Municipality
Samogitia
Samogitian pilgrimage basilica and centre of the Calvary Hills
Vienuolyno g. 1A, Žemaičių Kalvarija
56.11700, 22.01800
1-2 hours for the basilica; 3-5 hours with walking the Calvary Hills
for a quiet visit, avoid indulgence days; for living tradition, come during the Great Indulgence in early July
Žemaičių Kalvarija Shrine, Žemaičių Kalvarija
Žemaičių Kalvarija Basilica: what matters most
Žemaičių Kalvarija Basilica is only the central part of a larger shrine. The real content of the place includes the basilica, the image of the Mother of God regarded as miraculous, the town, the Varduva valley, and the route of the Calvary Hills chapels.
Plan your visit according to your aim. If you want to see the architecture and the basilica, a shorter stop is enough. If you want to understand the Žemaičių Kalvarija tradition, you need to walk or at least partly see the Calvary Hills.
Historical beginning of Žemaičių Kalvarija Basilica
The official Žemaičių Kalvarija shrine chronology says the place was first mentioned in 1253, the parish was established in 1619, and in 1637 Dominicans took charge at the request of Bishop Jurgis Tiškevičius. VLE adds that until the mid-seventeenth century the town was called Gardai, and that the Dominican monastery operated here from 1637 to 1889.
The arrival of the Dominicans was the decisive turn. Their activity is linked with the rise of Žemaičių Kalvarija as a pilgrimage centre and the establishment of the Way of the Cross tradition. VLE states that general indulgence feasts began here in 1742, and that historian Simonas Daukantas and Bishop Motiejus Valančius later graduated from the local school.
The Calvary Hills of Žemaičių Kalvarija
The Calvary Hills were founded in 1639. Today the traditional route includes 19 chapels and 20 Stations of the Cross spread through the town's hills, valleys, and paths. VLE specifies that 19 Way of the Cross chapels are arranged on seven hills at the confluence of the Varduva and Kedronas streams.
This is not a short decorative alley beside a church. The Hills are a physical route through the landscape, so walking them requires time, comfortable footwear, and the right frame of mind, especially if done with hymns or prayer.
Žemaičių Kalvarija Basilica and its image
The present Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. VLE dates it more precisely: begun in 1781, architect A. Kosakauskas, completed in 1824, and repaired in the twentieth century. It is a church of transitional Baroque-to-Classicist forms.
The image of the Mother of God with Child kept in the basilica is one of the shrine's most important relics. VLE places it in the high altar and considers it a seventeenth-century work, while official shrine material emphasises its tradition of graces and its crowning with crowns in 2006. VLE also mentions the basilica's 20 painted Stations of the Cross from 1874 by J. Szyrma.
The Great Indulgence of Žemaičių Kalvarija
The Great Indulgence of Žemaičių Kalvarija traditionally takes place in early July and draws pilgrims from across Lithuania. VLE states that the annual Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary indulgence is attended by about 75,000 pilgrims. During the feast the town changes scale: there are processions, liturgy schedules, heavier transport, and more people.
Because the programme is updated each year, check the official Great Indulgence page before travelling. In 2026 the official website has a separate programme page for the Great Indulgence, but times and details always depend on that year's arrangements.
How to visit Žemaičių Kalvarija Basilica
The basilica address is Vienuolyno g. 1A. If arriving by car, check the official arrival description and parking options in advance, especially during the indulgence, when normal town logistics change.
If you walk the Calvary Hills, bring water, wear comfortable shoes, and allow more time. With children or older travellers the route can be shortened, but seeing the basilica and several chapels still helps explain the structure of the place.
What to see nearby
Žemaičių Kalvarija is easy to combine with Lake Plateliai, Žemaitija National Park, and the Cold War Museum in Plokštinė. Such a route shows very different layers of Samogitia: pilgrimage, nature, and twentieth-century military history.
If building a pilgrimage route, natural comparisons are Šiluva and the Hill of Crosses. All three are different, but together they clearly show how places of faith in Lithuania work through landscape.
