Međugorje has been a place of prayer and reconciliation since 25 June 1981 and the testimony of six children about the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Queen of Peace. There are three special pilgrimage sites in Međugorje. The first is the Apparition Hill, where the visionaries first saw Our Lady. The second is Križevac, where an eight-meter-high concrete cross was erected in 1934. And the third site is the parish church dedicated to St. James the Elder, the apostle and patron saint of pilgrims.
Now Međugorje is also on the map of one of the most important Christian pilgrim routes, the Way of St. James - Camino de Santiago. The Camino Dubrovnik - Međugorje pilgrim way is about 147 kilometres long and connects the Benedictine monastery on Višnjica in Dubrovnik and the church of St. James in Međugorje.
The monastery and church of St. James on Višnjica were built in 1222 thanks to a gift from the Dubrovnik nobleman Miho Gundulić and his wife Dobroslava. With the fall of the Republic of Ragusa, the Benedictine monastery ceased to exist. The church of St. James today belongs to the parish of St. Andrew in Dubrovnik.
The parish of Međugorje was canonically founded on 1 May 1892, and dedicated to St. James, the patron saint of pilgrims. The first church, built in 1897, was built on shaky ground; its walls soon began to crack and the entire building began to sink. Work on the new church lasted from 1934 to 19 January 1969, when the church was blessed.
(Željka Šaravanja)
