Aljmaš - Church of the Sheltering Virgin Mother Traditional Cache
Aljmaš - Church of the Sheltering Virgin Mother
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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Aljmaš
Aljmaš is a small village near, but an important shrine, pilgrimage destination at the confluence of the Drava and Danube, 21 km east of Osijek.
The first mention of the settlement is from 1237, when it was called Hagmas, that evolved to Hagymás and by 1332 to Almás, later Aljmaš. In the early days, its inhabitants were Catholic Croatians and Hungarians. Most of the population were farmers and fisherman, but there were also some craftsmen and merchants. Between 1526 and 1687 the regions of Slavonia and Baranja were under Ottoman rule. In the first part of the 18th century, German settlers arrived and the number of Hungarians strongly declined. The village belonged to Hungary until the Trianon treaty (1920), then it was given to Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Wars of 1991-1997 redrew the map of the region again. Now there are hardly any Germans or Hungarians left, Aljmaš turned into a pure Croatian village that has about 600 inhabitants.
Sactuary of the Sheltering Virgin Mother
The nicely situated village became an important place due to a wooden Mary statue, richly decorated with silver. It was carved in 1686 by András Horváth, a Franciscan monk in Osijek who placed the statue ceremonially in the chapel of the (then) Hungarian village Laskó (Lug). Osijek was then still under Ottoman rule (for another year). During the Ottoman period, the Franciscan monks of Osijek served as priests in Lug, this is where the connection originates from.
Jesuits, earlier expelled by the Ottomans, returned with the Christian army and tried to carry out the spiritual restoration of the liberated land. They erected a small wooden church in Lug with the intention of making it a sactuary. But, soon calvinist became so numerous and strong that they took possession of the church and turned it into their place of worship.
Jesuit Father Mark Jurina found it better to evacuate the statue from Lug, so in November 1704 it was transported to Aljmaš and placed in the simple, little church of the village. The celebration of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th was held here, complete with pilgrims from Osijek, so 1704 is considered the beginning of the Aljmaš sanctuary.
A new church, more appropriate to house the statue and the congregation was built between 1708-1716.
In 1846 conflagration destroyed the church and several houses. The statue could not be saved from the flames, only a picture of the Virgin Mary that was considered to be the copy of the statue. This picture was taken to a valley, about 1 km from the church (another cache takes you there).
The church was rebuilt between 1847-1852.
Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmajer donated a new Virgin Mother statue to the sactuary in 1857.
For nearly a hundred years the regular pilgrimages continued peacefully, but between 1945-1990, during the Communist rule, they were often interrupted and prohibited.
In September 1991 Serbian paramilitary troops, aided by the Yugoslav National Army, occupied the area and non-Serbian population was displaced from all nearby villages. The church was pillaged, desecrated, and destroyed, followed by the houses left behind by the people who fled.
In 1992, under unusual circumstances, the severely damaged statue of the Virgin Mother was found among the ruins of the church and was taken to Osijek.
In 1997 the Croatian War of Independence ended and part of the escaped villagers and also the statue returned. From this year on Aljmaš and its holly statue attracted the pilgrims again, so the construction of a new church was urgently needed. The fourth church at the same location was designed by Zagreb architects Maja Furlan Zimmermann, Iva Gajsak and Mirko Buvinity and was built between 2001-2003. In 2004 the sanctuary marked its 300-year anniversary and the consecration of the new church. Aljmaš is the most important Mary sanctuary of Slavonia that attracts about a 100,000 pilgrims annually.
The most important holiday is Mary's birthday, September 8th. On this day, and during the other Mary celebrations, - Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - July 2nd, Assumption of Mary - August 15th, Immaculate Conception - December 8th - high muggle traffic is expected, so please use utmost stealth. On the other days, the square is more or less deserted. But even then, please, be careful and take the cache a bit further for logging, before returning it to its safe hide.
Opening hours
The church is open all day long, feel free to enter!
Schedule of masses:
On weekdays, in the summer: at 18:30
On weekdays, in winter: 17:30
On holidays: at 9:30
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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