Mystical European Pilgrimage Site Celebrates Anniversary

When Jerusalem fell to the rule of the Turks circa 17th century and Governor Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and his Polish aristocrats were no longer allowed to journey to the land on pilgrimages, Zebryzydowski nobly took it upon himself to build a replica. It was the work of a lifetime, enlarged and improved by his son and later, by his grandson. The grand religious complex of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska over the years expaned to become a complete town and is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In memory of the anniversary of the religious complex founded on this day in 1602, Janson Media pays homage to one of Europe's most mystical and spiritual pilgrimage sites with the DVD Pilgrimages Of Europe Vol 5 - Kalwaria & Scherpenheuvel(1 x 90') available now.

In the 17th century, Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Turks. The European aristocracy could no longer journey on pilgrimages to the Holy Land. They were forced to find an alternative. The Polish nobleman Zebrzydowski decided to have a replica of Calgary built on his estate. In the southern hills of Poland eight chapels appeared with a church and a monastery at the center. It was the work of a lifetime, enlarged and improved by his son and later, by his grandson. The holy site was entrusted to the care of the Bernardine order. Today, throughout the year, pilgrims flock to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and of course Poland itself. They walk the ancient Way of the Cross, stepping into the many chapels along the way to sing and pray.

The mystical and spiritual nature of a pilgrimage holds an eternal, mythic appeal to the imagination of many people. Every year millions of pilgrims of all nationalities, young and old, set out on these voyages of the soul. The twelve documentaries in the Pilgrimages of Europe collection are experiential journeys to some of the most sacred routes and holy places throughout Christian Europe. Each half-hour documentary, richly filmed, looks at the spiritual, cultural and historical background of an important pilgrimage sites throughout Europe. However, the people, the pilgrims themselves, are at the heart of these stories - their purposes and desires, their motivations, and the great sense of the holy and the sacred which they find on their journeys of faith.