Basilika zu Unserer Lieben Frau Maria Heimsuchung

Farnach & Bildstein Basilika: Christmas has not been easy as the clergy have discouraged worship but you can still enjoy the fresh air making local pilgrimages. The walk from Farnach to Bildstein was once one of the only Mediaeval ways by horse and carriage to get into the Bregenzerwald. The famous Basilika was a pilgrim destination to give thanks for miraculous apparitions of Maria. My first visit was enjoying in a couple of wonderful hours listening to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on the organ balcony. The Maria Pieta and the Altarpiece are carving masterworks and the wall paintings of Miracles tell of similar miracles as in Rankweil Basilka. Here you can also admire the Great War pilgrims on the stained glass windows and the silver tablets telling biblical tales. I enjoyed the Rosenkranzgeheimnissen (The Secrets of the Rosary). But it is also worth a short visit to the Marienbrunnen (Holy Well) below the Basilika and the tiny chapel in the woods known as the Erscheingskapelle (Shining Chapel). A walk over the rare Moors above Farnach is best barefoot in Summer as this tiny village is often all but forgotten by modern motoring pilgrims passing into the Bregenzerwald now through a new road tunnel. My favourite Gnomes sit shivering awaiting the Summer sunshine watching and wondering at the modern pilgrims who all go past the Gemeideamt to admire the splendid Rhine Valley and often a Bodensee view that spans all the way down this enormous lake Merry Christmas to all who could not enjoy communal worship or the sounds of orchestra or organists playing some exciting new music. I always try to leave a Musical Diary and CD to encourage Church Organists to change perceptions of our Vorarlberg music.

When the weather is nice, a fantastic view of Lake Constance and the Rhine Valley. Basilica has been beautifully renovated and is a worthy place to linger, slow down and of course to practice religion. When you are in Vorarlberg, a visit to the Bildstein Basilica is an absolute "must".

I don't presume to write a review about a church!

the steep uphill climb was worth it. We were thrilled and impressed by this beautiful place of pilgrimage

A spiritual place with partly successful renovation. The fact that the new tabernacle with the Madonna and the two gold plates almost completely takes the view of the high altar picture, has obviously not been considered. They affect me like foreign objects. In my opinion, that was better before the renovation. For the Madonna, a better place would certainly be found in the basilica than the present one.