Home
 
 Mariazell Issue of 1957 Top: Basilica at Mariazell (Scott 229 and 231) Bottom: Image of the Great Mother of Austria (Scott 230 and 232) November 14, 1957 marked the date of issue for a four-stamp set commemorating the eighth century of the founding of the Mariazell Shrine in Austria. Mariazell is small town located in the Alpine Mountains of southeastern Austria, about 100 miles southwest of Vienna. Tradition gives the town's founding day as December 21, 1157. In the late 11th or early 12th century (most likely in 1103), the Benedictines established a monastery in the area. Legend has it that a monk named Magnus was sent to Mariazell and brought a statue of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, carved from lime wood. On his travels, at one point the path was blocked by a large boulder. Magnus placed the statue on the boulder and the rock miraculously split. Once at Mariazell, he had a small wooden chapel built for the statue. The statue became know as “Magnus Mater Austriae”, which translates to "The Great Mother of Austria". Over time, the fame of the statue and its miracles spread through the region. The first stone church was built at the shrine around 1200, followed by a large Gothic basilica about 100 years later (built under the auspices of King Louis the Great of Hungary). In the mid-1600's the present Basilica of Mariazell was constructed under the direction of the famed architect Domenico Sciassia. Built in the classic Baroque style, the site is visited by over one million pilgrims each year. Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Basilica in September, 1983, as did Pope Benedict XVI in September, 2007. Here is a photo of the Basilica at Mariazell, taken in 2011:  Mariazell Basilica Photo by C.Stadler/Bwag From Wikimedia Commons Used under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Austria license REFERENCES: |
