Aglona (Latgalian: Aglyuna) is a settlement in Latgale, the
center of Aglona county and parish. Located between Lakes Ciriša and
Aglona at the intersection of highways P60 and P62 234 km from
Riga.
Aglona is home to the Aglona Basilica, which is an important Latvian
Catholic religious center.
Aglona consists of three parts:
Aglona south of the basilica, Somerset on the Ciriša shore and
Jaunciems by the Aglona-Preiļi road. Aglona began to form at the
turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, when monks of the Dominican
Order built a monastery and church here. In 1883, Roseters, the
owner of the Noviyev manor, founded the village of Somerset, naming
it after his wife's family. In 1925, Somerset was granted the status
of a densely populated area (village). In 1935, Somerset had a
population of 282. In 1968, Aglona and Somerset were
administratively merged into one village.
Aglona has county
administrative institutions, secondary school, boarding secondary
school, Catholic gymnasium, cultural center, open-air stage, Bread
Museum, World War II exposition, health and social care center, post
office.
The pilgrimage site is located on a narrow strip of land between the Cirišs and Egles lakes and was created from a merger of the settlements of Aglona, Somerseta and Jaunciems. The nearby Sacrifice Island (Latvian: Upursala), Devil's Lake (Latvian: Velnezers), Madelan Castle (Latvian: Madelāņu pilskalns) and the surrounding pine forests make Aglona a popular excursion destination. Traditionally, many families from Russia also spend their summer holidays here.
In 1699 the Dominican Order founded a monastery in Aglona. The
miraculous image of Our Lady of Aglona, which the Dominicans probably
brought here from Lithuania, is significantly older. Since it attracted
more and more pilgrims, today's Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin
Mary was built between 1768 and 1780, with the icon of the Virgin Mary
added to the high altar. The hill is the spiritual center of Catholics
in Latvia, which is otherwise predominantly Lutheran, and the pilgrimage
basilica is the most important Catholic church in the country. The
interior of the baroque basilica is decorated with grisaille paintings
in the Rococo style. It is visited by up to 300,000 pilgrims every year,
especially for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August
15th, when over 50,000 believers often come to Aglona. Many votive
offerings testify to answered prayers. The basilica is located on a
spring that is said to have healing powers.
In 1980 the church
celebrated its 200th consecration day and Pope John Paul II awarded it
the rank of a minor basilica. In 1986 the 800th anniversary of Latvia's
Christianization was celebrated here. Pope John Paul II visited the
pilgrimage site in September 1993, accompanied by 300,000 pilgrims from
Latvia and neighboring countries. It is one of eight international
Catholic shrines in the world.
Aglona got its name from the word spruce (Latgalian: aglojs,
agliena, aglaine). Once there were spruce forests, which together
with the rich system of lakes and rivers created a favorable natural
environment for the inhabitants of the area in early antiquity.
Aglona has been known as one of the centers inhabited by white
peoples since 1800 - 500 BC. Madelāni castle mound with the ancient
city was once a significant political and economic center. According
to the legend told by Johann Rīvija, in 1263 the Lithuanian nobleman
Mindaugas was killed here with his two sons - Rukli and Rupeiki.
In 1929, in a brochure dedicated to Aglona, Aleksandrs
Novickis wrote:
"Both in ancient times and in modern times, two
hundred years ago this region was very populated. All inhabitants
and areas of large lands were in the hands of nobles Dadziboga and
Ieva, born in Selicka, Shostovicki. The latter had decided to create
one center of spiritual life here. To this end, they chose a
teacher, the disciples of St. Dominic, and gave them vast estates
and people to build the first monastery and wooden church. ”
In 1697, the nobleman Ieva Justīne Šostovicka, with the support of
the then Bishop of Livonia Nikolai Poplavskis, called on the
Dominicans of Vilnius to establish a monastery and a parish school
in Aglona. Remigijs Mosokovskis, the a priori father of the Vilnius
Dominican Monastery, came to Aglona and chose a place for a church
and a monastery. One of the legends about the origins of the place
is that a Latvian girl Anna (Anita) lived near Šostovicki, who on
August 15, 1698, during the evening prayer, saw the Mother of God
with the child of Jesus on her right hand. Father Remigijs has also
seen the vision - a white church with high towers. A monastery
building was built on the hill in 1699, but a year later the first
wooden church was consecrated by the Livonian bishop Joseph Dominic
Puzina on September 10, 1751, when he visited Aglona for the third
time. In 1766, the wooden church burned down, only the icon of Our
Lady was saved. From 1720 to 1780, a new monastery building was
built, and from 1768 to 1780, the Aglona stone church. The new
church was solemnly consecrated in 1800 by Jānis Benislavskis, the
assistant bishop of the Mogilev Archdiocese.
The Polish
clergyman Zygmunt Łoziński and one of the founders of Belarusian
drama, Каятан Марашэўскі, have worked in Aglona at various times.
Legend of the grave of the King of
Lithuania Mindaugas in Aglona after his death.
The legend about
the preserved original of the Aglona Icon of Our Lady (XIII
century), which resides in the altar of the Aglona Basilica.
The
holy spring behind the basilica.