Kaplnka Panny Márie Snežnej v Úhornej
According to a local legend, a man was ploughing a field near Štós when he unearthed a small image of the Holy Mother, the Helper. At first, he could not clearly see what was lying on the ground. When he bent down and washed his face and eyes with water from a nearby puddle, his eyesight immediately improved. He took the image to the church in Úhorná, but after a year it mysteriously disappeared. During a later ploughing, however, it was found again in the same place. It was also said that snow falling on that spot instantly turned into stones. These events were considered miraculous and interpreted as a divine sign to build a chapel above the village of Úhorná.
The first wooden chapel, covered with wooden shingles, was built in 1813 by the widow of Count Štefan Andrássy. A strong spring emerged at the site and was lined with white stones. Mothers soon began bringing their visually impaired children there, washing their eyes with the spring water, and many were believed to have been healed. Near the spring are two grottoes containing statues of the Virgin Mary and the Suffering Christ. As the site grew in importance, the number of pilgrims increased every year.
Since the original chapel became too small, the inhabitants of Úhorná organized collections to fund a new one. Construction was initiated by Father Herko and the new chapel was completed and solemnly consecrated on 10 August 1941. Inside is an altar with a Baroque superstructure featuring a copy of the 17th-century image of the Virgin Mary with Child, known as the Black Madonna.
Since then, pilgrimages have been held annually, attracting around 15,000 believers from the Spiš and Gemer regions. Pilgrimage masses are celebrated in Slovak, Hungarian, and German, and take place on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows on 5 August. The mountain landscape of the Slovak Ore Mountains provides pilgrims with an ideal setting for prayer, meditation, and relaxation. Many spend the night under the open sky, as the pilgrimage site lies far from human settlements. People of different nationalities gather here as one united community of faith. Visitors often take water from the spring with them, believing it helps improve eyesight, especially in cases of cataracts.
