The route of Our Lady of Sinj is a pilgrimage trail, used for thousands of years from several directions, to walk towards the largest Marian shrine in southern Croatia. Every year in the nights between August 8-15, just before the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, thousands of pilgrims, espe- cially young ones, start their traditional walk towards Sinj, while the main religious ceremony takes place on August 15. Pilgrims arrive from several directions, mostly from the south from Solin and from the north from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the central pilgrimage site, the Marian shrine in Sinj, there is a painting of the Miraculous Lady of Sinj. Painted on canvas, it is 58 cm long and 44 cm wide. The painting does not depict the entire figure of the Madonna, only her bust coming out of the dark background. It is well preserved even though it had been folded in several places. These folds were most probably created by the monks who carried it in their bag while they were fleeing from Rama in 1687 when Christians had to leave their homes due to an imminent enemy threat.

Monks carried the painting from Rama to Sinj then later on to Split through Dugopolje and Klis where they temporarily found refuge in the old Benedictine abbey on Sustjepan in 1688. In 1691, monks finally brought the painting to the church in Sinj and placed in on the altair. This marks the beginning of the history of pilgrimage to Our Lady of Sinj.

Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia issues warnings for pilgrims every year, urging them to use the marked road routes and to walk in lines or groups on the left edge of the curb. Drivers are also re- minded on certain dates to be careful and to follow instructions and or- ders given by the traffic police. In spite of good traffic regulations during the pilgrimage periods, unfortunately, accidents were known to happen, even fatal ones, when pilgrims were ran over by reckless drivers.

Because of these accidents, and my own personal experience gath- ered on many pilgrimage routes across the globe, I had an idea to use the traditional walking and horse routes as well as the abandoned “Rera“ railroad route not only during the annual celebrations but throughout the year.