Myths around Mary abound in former Yugoslavia

Ritika Kochhar traces the intriguing stories around Mary

The states of former Yugoslavia have a history that goes back to the earliest civilisations. Thanks to the fact that the country was the easiest alternative to the uncrossable Alps, the Greeks, Romans, Vikings, and even the Ottomans and Hapsburgs conquered, crossed and/or inhabited it at some stage.
 

This cross-pollination of Roman Catholicism and Christian Orthodoxy, coupled with the unconquerable defiance of the Slavs, made the people of the region hold on to their religious beliefs even more strongly in the face of Communism. So much so that every city here teems with its own legends and beliefs — the