I first visited Medjugorje in 1987 after I heard of the alleged appearance of the Virgin Mary to six kids who were tending goats on a remote hillside. Back then, it had one-third of all the tourism beds in the whole of Bosnia and Hercegovina. The town has grown considerably since then, attracting about 1.5 million tourists a year (compare that with 20 million for all Croatia).

Some 36 years after my first visit, the so-called Apparitions have still not been formally recognised by the Vatican. Indeed, the Bishop of Mostar over the years has been openly skeptical over the years.

And while there are 1.5 million visitors to a site not recognised by the Vatican, thousands of pilgrims driving down from Central Europe each year drive past a Croatian destination which not only has an authenticated miracle, but one which you can visit daily, even during Holy Mass. And VERY few tourists know anything about it.

A rather unusual tale of three churches, including one that the Croatian government promised to build in 1739, but only got round to in 1994 during the Homeland War.

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