Our Lady of Vinagora

Marian vocation of Vinagora (Central Croatia)

La devoción de Our Lady of Vinagora - in Croatian, Gospa Vinagorska- is attached to the sanctuary of Vinagorain Hrvatsko zagorje, within the current Central Croatia, in the vicinity of Pregrade. The temple is a baroque church of pilgrimage located on a hill, which reinforces its character as a place of Marian recollection and Romeria. The information available identifies an image of the Virgin venerated by the local and regional population.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción de Our Lady of Vinagora - in Croatian, Gospa Vinagorska- is attached to the sanctuary of Vinagorain Hrvatsko zagorje, within the current Central Croatia, in the vicinity of Pregrade. The temple is a baroque church of pilgrimage located on a hill, which reinforces its character as a place of Marian recollection and Romeria. The information available identifies an image of the Virgin venerated by the local and regional population.

A complete historical narrative of the origins of the advocation and a detailed chronology of its primitive cult do not appear in the consultation; therefore, there is no safety in a precise foundational date or a sufficiently solid documented history to establish the beginning of the cult. However, it is clear that devotion is geographically associated with Vinagora and the region of Pregrada, where it has maintained a regional arraigo as a Marian sanctuary.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image in Vinagora is not described in the sources consulted with a sufficient level of detail on material, authorship or exact typology; therefore, no consta a ficha iconográfica segura sobre si se trata de heela, pintura u otra pieza devocional.

The sanctuary is the parish church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vinagora; some descriptions present it as a baroque church of pilgrimage on a hill. In the sources consulted no consta who have the dignity of minor basilica It is clear that the Commission's proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the National sanctuary o diocesan with that specific name.

Sponsorship and coronation

In revised sources no consta an officially documented patronage on a city, municipality, diocese or on the Croatian nation for this specific advocation of Vinagora.

It also does not contain a documented canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of Vinagora in the sources consulted; for prudence, it must be stated as does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The main feast of the sanctuary is not clearly fixed in the sources consulted, beyond the parish title of the Visitation of the Virgin Marywhich refers liturgically to the 31 of May in the Roman calendar; however, the universal liturgical feast must not be confused with a possible local patron party, which here no consta.

It does establish its status as a place of pilgrimage and regional devotion, linked to the religious life of Pregrade and the surroundings of Hrvatsko zagorje. No reliable data on influx, popular votes or specific local traditions have been found; therefore, these extremes no constan in the revised sources.

Link to the Rosary

In the sources consulted no consta a specific and documented historical link between Gospa Vinagorska and a fellowship, brotherhood or tradition of Rosary.

Even so, as in so many Marian shrines, the Rosary naturally accompanies this devotion because it places the look on the mysteries of Christ with Mary, especially in a sanctuary of pilgrimage where repeated and contemplative prayer expresses confidence, supplication and praise. In the absence of any particular data on Vinagora, this relationship should be understood as a General spiritual affinity of Marian piety, not as a specific historical feature tested for this sanctuary.