What to do or see in Poland? Here’s day 2 of our POLAND-ONLY family camping road trip… number 5 
too see the iconic image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in pictures. And my kids thought we were going to a Black McDonald.
Oh by the way, if you do go, make sure you do NOT associate anything rainbow-colored with the image of the Virgin Mary/Black Madonna. Otherwise, you might go to jail like these two women who held images of the Black Madonna with rainbow haloes during an LGBT march. I know, right?! They actually had an expert testify that the colors were of LGBT rainbow and not any other kind of rainbow. WTF?!?!
Day 2, Black Madonna at Jasna Gora
The fortress-looking monastery of Jasna Gora houses the shrine of the Virgin Mary where an icon of her blackened image is shown behind wrought iron gates.
It has become a unique pilgrimage sites for Catholics. And it’s much better than many of the religious sites that we’ve been at because it was not so crowded here.
In Lourdes, for example, the sheer commerciality was prevalent. It was everywhere. Many things were even for sale on actual churchgrounds, not to mention the ones that are just outside the gates of the supposed sanctuary of Lourdes. Sanctuary from what you might ask!
You know, your surrounded by all these shiny trinkets, saints on sale, icons and images, candles. . . even a thousand-euro candle sold by the church itself! Is this a religious place?
The one good thing is that it’s very well organized. The stalls and stores where you can buy knickknacks and souvenirs are at least a block away from the sanctuary. So, the sellers were all organized to be at this one specific side of the road going downhill. They are not all over the place. So there’s some semblance of control and not being too kitschy or overwhelming, you know.
Strange thing is to see images of the Black Madonna and all other religious artifacts you can imagine alongside things for kids like Haggy Waggy Hucky Wacky that the kids are into these days, along with guns and toys.
And for the suppossed adults? Silver, you know, jewelry for sale at 0.952 purity. Right next to the blackened images of Mother Mary.
That’s religious commercialism at its best although not as bad as in Lourdes. It’s a small town here afterall compared to Lourdes with about 217,000 residents.
What else?
Well the main thing to see here is the Black Madonna. And of course, what is it? They say it’s older than Jesus Christ, though I find it hard to believe that that’s the case, right?
Apparently, some thieves at some point in time tried to cut a piece of the original artwork of the Black Madonna. That’s when the Black Madonna had started showing tears. They “look like scars on her face,” as my six-year-old son noted.
Best Time to Visit the Black Madonna?
Our tip for this is to visit it on a Sunday. A Sunday in the summer.
I don’t know if we were just lucky that on this particular Sunday in the first week of July there were hundreds of youngsters wearing yellow shirts, something called “Młodzi dla Kościoła, Kościół dla Młodych” (Youth for the Church. Church for the Youth). Apparently, they are a part of some kind of religious movement for young people in Poland.
They are, I guess, part of the many, many, many pilgrims here. And if you come early enough to make it all the way into the church and as close to the gated chapel that houses the Black Madonna, you may just experience something fantastic. I’m not religious myself, so I view this from a cultural-curiosity perspective. Yet with so many people packed into this small chapel inside the cathedral-lloking church, singing their songs of exultation with such fervor, you know, it’s quite beautiful. Likely even powerfully moving for believers.
The downside was we could barely move in there. And with kids? It was really difficult to maneuver to even get a glimpse of the Black Madonna. It was even difficult to breathe. They really could not see anything.
There were a lot more people lining up and packing it in when we came back to the site 4 or 5 hours later.
There were masses throughout the day that adds a special sense of experience, especially if you are religious. In between masses there’s fewer people.
Keep in mind that when you visit with a large crowd, it’s kind of hard to get good pictures or videos, especially when there’s mass going on. You don’t want to do that anyway out of respect. But there’s plenty of stuff on the internet to see the Black Madonna up close. The important thing is that you’re here, you know where it is (at least where to look) and absorb the ambience. And, OH, pray, if you pray. Take it all in, if you don’t.
If you DO NOT like crowds, you may want to visit it on a weekday, maybe Monday or Tuesday, if it’s open (the website says it’s open daily, but it’s always good to check before you go). You’d likely have a more quiet, if not intimate, experience. You might be able to actually get up as close as possible to the gate that separates the public from the Black Madonna. The gate has a window that allows you to actually zoom your camera in and get a clearer picture of the Black Madonna.
Other than that it’s a an opulent church with all the gold and glory, and paintings and stuff. Even the offices in the outer rooms had an exhibition of kitschy things, like things that the former Pope John Paul II had. There’s even his BMW that he used at one point that looked really, really out of place; even disgusting to see how religion became materialistic like this or, you know, hero-worship. It certainly took away from the Black Madonna!
Services/Basic Needs
FREE bathroom/WC with fresh clean potable mountain water from the drinking fountain outside. It’s not quite the “blessed” kind as they have in Lourdes.
Food. We didn’t see any food place inside, on monastery grounds. There’s several around the Black Madonna pilgrimage site; quick food serving traditional polish cuisine, quite decent and affordable. There’s bunch of ice cream places too under shade.
FREE Parking, sie-street parking. But you know you’re competing with a lot of people. So, first to come, first to park. But paid parking is also available for a mere 6 zlotys (€1.25) per hour. Do that and feel good about your contribution to local economic development.
Jasna Gora: a Fortress? or Monastery?
The next-best part about this place, other than seeing the painting of Black Madonna with your own eyes through the golden gates, are the outer defense walls that surrounds the church. It’s a fortress-church-monastery afterall .
Here’s a quick story on why this monastery-church looks like a castle fortress, commplete with bastions, bridges, and what looked like a former moat. Apparently, Czestochowa was invaded by the Swedes several times in the early 1700s, about tthree or four times. They they failed. Before that there were other invaders who also failed.
The Swedes at some point succeeded in conquering the nearby town of because of the defenses of the Olsztyn castle were inadequate compared to the 17th/18th century warfare technology. The fortress defenses in Czestochowa, however, were much more effective. The Swedes were not able to defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire Army that actually controled Jasna Gora for some reason; not the Russians nor the Prussians or the bones.
Have a walk around the outer ramparts or defensive perimeter walls to the two bastions that protects the monastery and the church that encloses the famed painting of the Black Madonna. From this vantage point, you’ll get a sense of the the former moat that protects the fortress and how the fortress overlooks the nearby town and surroundings, and understand really how it was almost an impenetrable castle-looking fortress-church.
Black Madonna Museum of War?
“WTF is this,” I thought myself? It’s another kitschy thing, strange at the least to see images and statue of the Black Madonna in a museum dedicated to soldiers and warfare. The Black Madonna here was clad in military uniform, complete with all the medals and insignias right alongside the Polish resistance groups, guns and, you know, basically all instruments of warfare of the time. The museum actually showcases the fight of the Polish people against the Soviets. So, that’s important. But, to militarize the Black Madonna?!. . . and to think that if you put an image of the Black Madonna against the backdrop of the LGBTQ-version of the rainbow flag–that you can actually go to jail for that in Poland?!??!!? C’mon now! No camera allowed in this room.
How much does it cost?
It’s ALL for FREE as well, unlike in many other touristy places where you have to pay parking in addition to the entrance fee. So that’s the added value of coming to this Catholic pilgrimage site.
What else to see around here?
A visit to the Jasna Gora fortress-monastery is easily an all-day affair, especially with kids, because it’s not a flat walk. You’d have to go up and down and all around. Besides, what’s the fun in hurrying up anyway?
Olsztyn castle & Eagle’s Nest
Only a 20-something-minute drive eastward is the town of Olsztyn where you can see the ruins of Olsztyn castle on the trail of the Eagle’s nest— a chain of 25 medieval castles between Krakow and Częstochowa that used to hold the fledgling Kingdom of Poland together, oh so long ago.
The town of Częstochowa itself did not look impressive. There were a lot of dilapidated houses that made it look like a worn-out town, sort of, or at least in contrast to the fortress-castle looking church of Jasna Gora.
It doesn’t have the traditional “stary rynek” in a sense of an old town square. For us, it was not really worth visiting.
Park im. Staszica w Częstochowie
There’s a big and beautiful park called “Park im. Staszica w Częstochowie” quite close to the site of the Blac Madonna where you can rest and recuperate from your religious “experience”. It is less than 5 minutes walk to the southeast. It has two small playgrounds, a calming pond, and a gazebo-garden used for summer concerts.
For the curious, in the southwest part of the park there’s a mining museum that’s marked by an old tunnel train by the entrance. Apparently it showcases the Lusatian culture, antique mining machineries, traditional underground excavation and the history of ore mining in Poland.
We didn’t have time to do it though because the kids were more interested in the cool playground nearby under shade of old big fat trees. This play area has a zipline, a huge open space for other activities, and clean bathroom for one zloty a poop (and it’s an actual WC, not a toi-toi or porta-potty).
Silver and Souvenirs
Just across the main road, south of the Jasna Gora monastery, there’s a long and narrow street lined with lots of stalls selling all kinds of stuff–souvenirs, postcards, silver earring, jewelry, sunglasses, toys, toys… and more toys, and silver advertised as 0.935 purity. Not that I know anything about that. With kids, we try to avoid such toy traps. . . but this time we couldn’t. Oh well. . . [a happy househusband’s tip to raising kids? Think of it as a small contribution to local economic development].
FREE outdoor swimming pool
Basen ŻARKI— a FREE outdoor swimming pool with diverted natural lake water. It’s about 36 kilometers/45-minute drive southeast of Czestochowa.
A FAMILY-friendly, KID-approved FUN stop with a bar and restaurant with equally family-friendly prices. You can practically spend a whole day here with huge swimming areas, playground, forest and this, beach volleyball court! Ok, OKAY! The water is greenish! Hhhmmmm, the boys came out of that with tails…..☺ Apparently, that’s natural lake water according to the locals. Pee Wee Hermann might disgaree! That’s all right. It’ll make you stronger, boys!
All kidding aside, this is a great place to go when the weather got too hot during our visit to Olsztyn.
Free entrance. Free parking. Limited shade. Three different swimming sections. Beach volleyball and playground.
Wooded area as backdrop and for shade. There’s also a pub/restaurant/cafe with outdoor seating next door. It’s not overpriced!
And that’s it. T’was a good trip. Jasna Gora Corbin. Korva Spanish culpa. 😊
### RT5-D2-7.3/Czestochowa ###
Next Stop: More castles on the trail of the eagle’s nest
Here’s the rest of what we plan to see and do in Poland’s south/southeast region on this year’s family camping road trip:
- Olsztyn and the trail of the Eagle’s nest,
- Black Madonna of Częstochowa,
- Krakow and the nearby attractions (Energylandia, Wadowice, Wieliczka Salt Mine),
- Pieniny mountain,
- drive through Slovakia’s southern Carpathian mountain,
- stop by the Saint Magdalene church in Dukla,
- do some trekking in the Bieszczady mountains and cross over into cross over to Ukraine (… maybe ; ),
- go see about a famous beetle in Szczebrzeszyn,
- and a charming art town of Kazimierz Dolny.
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