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Nestled among hills some 30km southwest of Kraków, the town of KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA looks and feels like a footnote to its main attraction: a historic hilltop centre of religious pilgrimage. Reached via the road leading south off the curiously empty Rynek from behind the parish church, with a steepish half-kilometre climb to the top, the large complex contains a Bernardine monastery, Church of the Virgin and a Via Dolorosa built by the Zebrzydowski family in the early seventeenth century, following a vision of three crosses here on the family estate. Miracles followed and the country's first and best-known Calvary grew to become one of its most popular sites of pilgrimage.

Before construction began, the Zebrzydowskis sent an envoy to Jerusalem for drawings and models of the holy places. Thus many of the chapels built across the nearby hills are modelled on buildings in the holy city. In addition to the main Via Dolorosa, a sequence of Marian Stations was added in the 1630s, including a "House of Mary", the Kosciól Grobu Matki Bozej (Church of the Tomb of Mary), housing a tomb of the Virgin built in the form of a large domed sarcophagus, and a string of other chapels and buildings - a 3km circuit all told. The towering main Bazylika Matki Bozej (Basilica of the Virgin) is a familiar Baroque effusion, with a silver-plated Italian figure of the Virgin standing over the high altar. The object that inspires the greatest devotion, however, is the painting of the Virgin and Child in the Zebrzydowski chapel, said to have been shedding tears at regular intervals since the 1640s. The pope (who grew up 15km away in Wadowice) used to be a regular visitor to the shrine, and you'll usually find pilgrims buzzing among the customary ranks of snack bars and trinket stalls that line the approach to the basilica.

The site always has its crowds, but they are at their most intense during August , the traditional time of pilgrimage throughout the country, particularly during the Festival of the Assumption (Aug 15) and at Easter , when the Passion Plays are performed here on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, with the vast accompanying crowds processing solemnly around the sequence of chapels in which the events of Holy Week are fervently re-enacted. The heady atmosphere of collective catharsis accompanying these events offers an insight into the inner workings of Polish Catholicism. To anyone from more sober northern climes, the realism (figures are tied on crosses, while spectators are dressed as Romans) can all be very perplexing, even frightening; however, gruesome enactments of the Crucifixion are an established feature of peasant Catholic festivals throughout Europe.

Due to its proximity to Kraków, Kalvaria isn't the kind of place where many people stay overnight, and accommodation options are correspondingly thin on the ground. The Dom Pielgrzyma, ul. Bernardynska 46 (tel 033/876 5539), is a Church-run place offering basic doubles with shared facilities (under 60zl/£11/US$15) and several larger dorms (21zl per person), although there's a 9.30pm curfew. The Stadion (also sometimes known as the Sportowy ), ul. Mickiewicza 16 (tel 033/876 6492), is a sports hotel a short walk north of the Rynek which has triples and quads for about 25zl per person, all without shower. For a bite to eat the choices are the Zarek , immediately north of the Rynek on ul. Jagiellonska, the Korona , on ul. 11 Listopada, ten minutes' walk east of the Rynek, and the Torino , a basic café-bar on the Rynek itself.