Pivašiūnai Marian Shrine

Pivašiūnai is one of Lithuania's most important Catholic pilgrimage destinations. The Church of the Assumption houses a 17th-century icon of the Virgin Mary that has been venerated for centuries and was crowned by papal decree in 1988 — during the Soviet occupation, an act of tremendous symbolic significance. The annual August pilgrimage draws thousands of faithful from across Lithuania. The setting in the rolling Dzūkija countryside adds to the devotional atmosphere, and the approach to the church along tree-lined roads gives pilgrims time for contemplation.