The Aglona Roman Catholic Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary () in

Aglona Aglona (, , , hist. ) is a village in the Aglona Parish of Preiļi Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia. It is located northeast of the city of Daugavpils. Located on the narrow strip of land between the lakes Cirišs and Egles, ...

is one of the most important

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

spiritual centers in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Construction of the present church, which is in the

Italian Baroque Italian Baroque (or ''Barocco'') is a stylistic period in Italian history and art that spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. History The early 17th century marked a time of change for those of the Roman Catholic religion ...

style, began in 1768 and was completed in 1780. Dedicated to the

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

, it was consecrated in 1800 by Bishop J. Benislavski. The church was the seat of the bishop of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

from 1920 to 1924, when the newly promoted archbishop

Antonijs Springovičs Antonijs Springovičs (1 November 1876 – 1 October 1958) was a Latvian Roman Catholic prelate who became the first Archbishop of Riga in 1923. Early years Springovičs was born on 31 October 1876 in Rēzekne. In 1897, he joined the seminary i ...

moved to the Cathedral of St. James in

. Springovičs was consecrated bishop there on 22 August 1920 by

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

auxiliary bishop

Juozapas Skvireckas Juozapas Jonas Skvireckas (18 September 1873 – 3 December 1959) was a Lithuanian archbishop of Kaunas (1926–1959). Skvireckas was born in Pašilaičiai or near Pumpėnai. He attended high school in Panevėžys and the seminary at Žemaič ...

. Every year thousands of pilgrims flock to the Basilica on 15 August, feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is one of the eight international shrines recognized by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and its religious events were attended by around 300,000 pilgrims. In 1980 the Basilica of the Assumption celebrated its 200th anniversary, and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

granted it the title of "Basilica minoris". In September 1993 the same pope visited the basilica.

History

In 1697, Landlady Eve Justīne Šostovicka called the then bishop of

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, Nicholas Paplavskis, and in 1688 arrived from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

a Dominican monastery priors father, Remigijs Mosokovskis and Aglona chose to place sacral buildings. In 1699 Dominicans founded a monastery where in 1670 they first built a wooden church. On 10 September 1751 was consecrated a wooden church during the third visit of the Livonian Bishop of Aglona, Joseph Dominic Puzinas. Church Dominicans placed Our Lady, which was painted by

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

Virgin icon sample. When the original church was destroyed by fire, instead of the 1768 to 1780 year built brick monastery buildings and the current church. The interior of the church was the result of the 18th-19th century, but the pulpit, organ and confessional - the end of 18th century. Latvia Aglona Basilica 2

Basilica of the Assumption of Aglona was built in the late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style, and it is decorated with two towers. Inside, there are cross vaults, arches, columns and it is decorated with rococo ornaments. Every year on the 15th of August, pilgrims come to celebrate the Virgin Mary's Assumption day. The Church kept the painting, sculpture and art values, including the icon of "Our Lady of Aglona's Miracle". It is believed that the painting has a healing ability. From 2011 to 2013 diocesan bishop John Bulis coordinated a Basilica's restoration work. It had pitch roofing, sheet metal cover being replaced with copper and renovation works from Basilica and convent. The basilica was carried out in a complete change of wall color, retaining the Baroque and Rococo styles, but changing the colors and patterns on the walls. The altar's large columns and cornices evolved from blue-green marble imitation of the little pink reddish, thus the whole altar become much "warmer". In contrast, the rest of the wall painting in the Basilica of the pitch line of decorative elements are pale yellow and pink colors of marble imitation celadon. All Basilica's decorative paint is a lot more marble imitation than it was before. It lost a few pictures of the saints and Christian symbols such as the dove (as a symbol of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

), the

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

symbol, etc.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Basilica in Aglona
Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Photos of the basilica
* http://www.ir.lv/2011/8/11/aglonas-bazilika Roman Catholic national shrines Preiļi Municipality Roman Catholic churches in Latvia Roman Catholic shrines in Latvia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1780 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Latvia