Aglona Basilica

The Basilica of Aglona is Latvia's most important Roman Catholic sanctuary, built in 1768 by Dominican monks in the Baroque style using locally fired brick. Its twin-towered silhouette rises prominently above the flat Latgale landscape, visible for kilometers around. One of only a handful of churches in the Baltic states to hold the formal title of Basilica minor and international sanctuary — a distinction granted by the Vatican to very few pilgrimage sites worldwide. Pope John Paul II visited Aglona in 1993, cementing its status as a pilgrimage destination across the region. Each year on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15th, up to one hundred thousand pilgrims gather on the basilica grounds, making it one of the largest religious assemblies in the Baltic states.