Manastirea Maria Radna Lipova

Mănăstirea Maria Radna, also known as the Minor Basilica "Maica Harurilor", is a monumental Roman Catholic Franciscan complex located on "Dealul Popilor" in the Radna district of the town of Lipova, Arad County, at 1 Avram Iancu Street, near the European road E68 Arad–Deva. The first documentary records of monastic activity at Radna date from 1325, when the King of Hungary, Carol Robert de Anjou, erected a monastery and a church in Lipova dedicated to Saint Louis of Toulouse, entrusted to Franciscan friars who had come from Bosnia. In 1520, a pious widow built a small chapel on the hill at Radna, which served the faithful and the Franciscan friars who had taken refuge north of the Mureș during the period of Ottoman occupation. In 1695, Ottoman soldiers set fire to the chapel; the only object that did not burn was the icon of the Mother of God. The current church was built in the Baroque style between 1727 and 1826, in several stages, with its 30-metre towers raised in 1911. The monumental complex comprises the church itself and three building wings, all listed as historical and architectural monuments from the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1992, Pope John Paul II elevated the church to the rank of Minor Basilica with the patronal title "Maica Harurilor". The main pilgrimages take place on the feast of Saint Mary, on 8 September, when services are held in Romanian, Hungarian, German and Bulgarian. A tourist trail leading to Ghioroc begins from behind the church. Access is from the centre of the town of Lipova, approximately 40 km east of the municipality of Arad, via the E68.