Maria Radna Monastery

About Maria Radna Monastery

At a glance: Monasteries and churches in Lipova, Arad County. Opening hours: daily 09:00 – 19:00. The visit takes ½ – 1 hours. Information verified on 28 September 2026.

On the right bank of the Mureș, in the Radna quarter of the town of Lipova, stands the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in western Romania: a Baroque church with two 67-metre towers, attached to a monastic quadrangle 50 metres to a side with 68 rooms. In 1992 Pope John Paul II gave the church the title of papal basilica, basilica minor.

It all began with an icon printed on paper in northern Italy, a Virgin of Mount Carmel bought by an elderly Bosnian of Radna from a travelling merchant and given, in 1668, to the chapel among the village vineyards. In 1695, during an Ottoman raid, the chapel burned down but the icon was untouched — that is where the pilgrimages started, officially recognised at a solemn mass on 8 September 1750. The present church was built between 1756 and 1781, the towers were raised in 1911, and in 1935 the interwar record was set: 73,000 pilgrims in a single year.

The Franciscan monastery beside it went up in stages, between 1727 and 1826. In 1951 the communist regime seized it and turned it first into an internment camp for monks and nuns, then into a home for the chronically ill. It was only returned in 2003 — the very year the last Franciscans left Radna for lack of vocations — and restored with European funding between 2013 and 2015. Today the basilica is in the care of the diocesan clergy of Timișoara, and the old cells house a museum, a library and conference rooms.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: the basilica sits right beside the DN7 (E68) Arad – Deva road, at the entrance to Lipova coming from Arad, and is signposted from the road. Arad is ~33 km away (~35 minutes), Timișoara ~60 km (~1 hour) on the DJ691, Deva ~120 km (~1 hour 40 minutes). It combines well with the ruins of Șoimoș fortress, on the hill opposite across the Mureș, and with the old centre of Lipova, 2 km away.

Public transport: Radna station is on the Arad – Simeria main line, ~700 m from the basilica, a ten-minute walk; the train from Arad takes about 40 minutes and there are several services a day. Minibuses to Lipova also run from Arad bus station.

Where to park

Park free of charge on the paved square below the basilica, a few dozen metres from the stairway up to the churchyard, or in the car park by the road into Radna. On the big August and September pilgrimage days the spaces fill early and people leave their cars along the main road.

Fees & discounts

The parish does not publish visiting charges online. The monastery museum, the religious goods shop and the tourist information centre are visited separately, through the corridor to the left of the church and the monastery's inner courtyard; ask at the information centre what the museum costs.

Rules

This is a working basilica and a place of pilgrimage, not a museum: dress modestly, keep quiet, and no food or drink inside the church. During mass you cannot walk around the church or visit the museum. The parish does not publish its photography rules — ask in the sacristy or at the information centre before taking out a camera.

Facilities

monastery museum, with votive pictures and Franciscan objects · library and conference rooms · religious goods and souvenir shop · tourist information centre ~50 m from the monastery · adapted toilets and facilities for visitors with reduced mobility, added in the 2013–2015 restoration · pilgrim accommodation nearby at Casa Hildegardis, run by the Caritas Lipova association · restaurants and guesthouses in Lipova