Miren Castle is an elevation above the settlement of Miren

Miren

Mireń is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pionki, within Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Pionki, east of Radom, and south-east of Warsaw.-References:...

 near Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica ; 21,082 ; 31,000 ) is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy...

, in southwest Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

. Its Slovene name reflects the fact that the hill was once occupied by a castle; it is currently dominated by a collection of ecclesiastical buildings.

Miren Castle

The origins of Miren Castle are unknown. It is thought to have been erected by the knights Tosi on the foundations of a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 castrum, and to have borne the name Monte Grado.

Taken by rebelling peasants during the great revolt of 1515, it was burned and destroyed. Some remnants of its walls remain visible near the present-day church and monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

.

Church of Our Lady of Sorrows

Over the centuries, a series of churches have occupied the site. The first recorded was the Church of Our Lady, built in 1488, rebuilt in 1753, and destroyed on 30 May 1914. Between 1700 and 1756, Grad was inhabited by hermits. The summit of Grad is now dominated by a monastic church dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...

 . It was built in 1886, and was completely destroyed and rebuilt during and after each World War. In 1958, its interior was decorated with frescoes by Tone Kralj. The entrance gate bears the inscription Ite in domum Matris Vestræ 'Go into the house of your mother'. It is still a pilgrimage destination.

Other

The path ascending Grad features Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...

 conceived by the architect Ivan Vurnik

Ivan Vurnik

Ivan Vurnik, was a Slovene architect. Together with, Ciril Metod Koch and Jože Plečnik, Vurnik is considered one of the initiators of Slovenian modernist architecture.-Early years:...

 in 1931. By its last station there stands an architecturally unique chapel of the Holy Steps, , the floor of which is made of 28 stepped platforms. It was blessed in 1757 by the Gorizia

Gorizia

Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...

 archbishop Karl Michael von Attems.

Sources

• http://www.brezmadezna.com/md/mi/miren.htm
• http://www.gradovi.jesenice.net/miren.html
• Gradovi, dvorci in graščine na Slovenskem (book), by Ivan Jakič
• http://www.kam.si/romarske_cerkve/mirenski_grad.html