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Although there's relatively little of the souvenir-peddling tackiness found in Europe's other leading Marian shrines, Jasna Gora could hardly be called beautiful: its architecture is generally austere, while the defensive walls give the hill something of a fortress-like feel. Entry is still via four successive gateways, each one of which presented a formidable obstacle to any attacker. As you wander around the complex you'll notice two key components of the pilgrimage experience - redemption and commerce. At every turn you'll find confessionals at which the faithful eagerly queue, while numerous offering boxes outside key doorways and dedicated to one saint or another, comfortably finance the upkeep of the spectacle. To deal with the visiting hordes there's a visitor information centre immediately inside the complex entrance (daily: May-Sept 7.30am-7pm; Oct-April 8am-5pm), run by nuns and usefully complete with an ATM bank machine. The best way to begin an exploration is by ascending the 100-metre-high tower (May-Sept daily 8am-4pm), a pastiche of its eighteenth-century predecessor, which was destroyed in one of the many fires which have plagued the monastery. An earlier victim was the monastic church , which has been transformed from a Gothic hall into a restrained Baroque basilica, now without pews, to make room for more pilgrims. Not that it's without its exuberant features, notably the colossal high altar in honour of the Virgin and the two sumptuous family chapels off the southern aisle, which parody and update their royal counterparts in the Wawel cathedral in Krakow. Understandably, the Kaplica Cudownego Obrazu (Chapel of the Miraculous Image), a separate church in its own right, is the focal point of the monastery. It's also the only part to retain much of the original Gothic architecture, though its walls are so encrusted with votive offerings and discarded crutches and leg-braces that this is no longer obvious. Masses are said here almost constantly but you'll have to time it right if you want a view of the Black Madonna , a sight that should not be missed. Part of the time the icon is shrouded by a screen, each raising and lowering of which presumably exists to add a certain dramatic tension and is accompanied by a solemn trumpet fanfare. When it's on view (Mon-Fri 6am-noon & 1-9pm, Sat & Sun 6am-1pm & 2-9pm) you only get to see the faces and hands of the actual painting (the Virgin's countenance being famously dour) as the figures of the Madonna and Child are always "dressed" in varying sets of jewel-encrusted robes that glitter all the more impressively against the black walls. Whatever your views on the validity of pilgrimages, veneration of a miraculous wonder or Church-engineered money-making device, you cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer devotion that the icon inspires in the hearts and minds of most Poles. Other sites in the complex fail to hold the resonance of the chapel, although between them they help to flesh out the site's history. To the north of the chapel, a monumental stairway leads to the Knights' Hall , the principal reception room, adorned with flags and paintings illustrating the history of the monastery. There are other opulent Baroque interiors, notably the refectory , whose vault is a real tour de force , and the library . However, you'll have to enquire at the information office by the main gateway for permission to see them, as they are normally closed to the public.
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