Međugorje

Međugorje is a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following claims of visions of the Virgin Mary, Međugorje became a place of worldwide pilgrimage (in the first 20 years, more than 20 million), and one of the biggest Christian prayer centres in the world, comparable to Lourdes and Fátima.

Understand

The Saint James Church

Exterior altar of the Saint James Church.

Međugorje, with the villages of Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci, forms a Roman Catholic parish with about 5,000 inhabitants. The parish is run by priests of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province of the Assumption of Mary. The village's name is of Slavic origin, and signifies a region between mountains.

Get in

By plane

The easiest way to get into Medugorje is to fly into Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina (OMO ^IATA), which is 20 km from Medjugorje. Alternatively, fly into Split, Croatia (SPU ^IATA), or Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV ^IATA).

By bus

• 1 Bus station. Bus station is in walking distance from Medugorje city centre. Both city buses and coaches stops here. (updated Oct 2015)

From Mostar

By public (city) bus

There is a possibility to reach Medugorje by city bus no. 48. On Monday to Friday, there are 8 buses from Mostar and 7 to Mostar. From Mostar, the buses are at 06:30, 09:45, 11:30, 13:10, 14:30, 15:30, 18:10 and 19:40. Return buses from Medugorje leave at 06:35, 07:35 (note long gap), 12:15, 13:30, 15:15, 16:15 and 19:45. On Saturdays there are 4 buses in both directions. There are no buses in Sundays. One-way ticket costs 3.50 KM. Detailed schedule can be found on Mostar Bus page . Most of these buses do not stop at Mostar Bus station, so the most convenient place to catch this bus is the 2 bus stop close to Krajla Tomislava and Krajla Petra Kresimira IV crossing, or the 3 bus stop close to Ekonomska Skola on Krajla Tomislava 1.

By inter-city bus

There are few buses daily from Mostar (east) bus station to Medugorje. Some buses also stops at Mostar (west) bus station. Price is 4 KM. Detailed schedule can be found here. Additionally there is connection at 11:10 from Mostar (east) bus station to Medugorje with relation change in Capljina. In most cases you don't have to change a bus, because the same bus continues to Medugorje. Price for whole trip is 5 KM from driver. Schedule can be found here and here.

From Split

There are 3 buses daily from Split to Medugorje at 10:55, 17:00 and 17:30. From Medugorje buses travel at 07:30, 09:30 and 11:15. Price was around ~ €15. Detailed schedule can be found here.

From Dubrovnik

There is one bus daily from Dubrovnik to Medugorje at 17:15. Price was ~€17. Detailed schedule can be found here.

Get around

Panoramic view of Međugorje from the Krizevac mountain.

The cross of Krizevac mountain.

Međugorje is not a large town, and it is possible to walk. Taxis are available for hire if necessary.

See

• 1 St James' Church (Crkva Sv. Jakova). (updated Oct 2015)
• 2 Apparition Hill (Brdo ukazanja (Podbrdo)). (updated Oct 2015)
• 3 White Cross Hill (Križevac). (updated Oct 2015)

Sleep

It is rumoured that there are as many accommodation beds in the town of Međugorje as there are in the rest of Bosnia and Hercegovina, therefore it should be almost impossible not to find accommodation: although during the Youth Festival it's almost impossible to find accommodation unless you book in advance.

• 1 Hotel Annamaria, 500 m from St Jacob's Church in the centre of Međugorje is one of a few hotels in town and offers very good full board for €25-30.

Go next

• Fátima – place of pilgrimage where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in a vision
• Vatican – centre of Catholicism
• San Giovanni Rotondo – home to the shrine dedicated to Saint Pius of Pietrelcina