Mariazell

For this #WahrzeichenWednesday, we’re headed back to to Styria #Steiermark for a visit to the beautiful alpine village of #Mariazell. Although a small town of only 3600 residents, Mariazell draws in over 1.5 million visitors as major pilgrimage destination for Catholics across Central Europe and the world. It is the most significant pilgrimage site in Austria with one of the most significant Marian shrines in Europe. During the Counter-Reformation, the Habsburgs made Mariazell the spiritual center of the empire with Emperor Leopold I encouraging pilgrimages and proclaiming Mariazell to be the empire’s sole “national shrine.”