Medjugorje Apparition Hill

Apparition Hill – Podbrdo – Crnica
Medjugorje
Our Lady's first apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina were on the slopes of hill Podbrdo! The apparition place is several hundred meters above the Bijakovići hamlet, called Podbrdo. In the English language, we refer to it as Apparition Hill. Another name for the same hill is Crnica, very seldom locals use this name today as it relates to a large hill above Bijakovici, to which Podbrdo belongs as a lower part of it.
The village's name, "Medjugorje," actually describes the village's location and position; the word means "between the hills." The village is situated "tucked in" between two hills. One is Crnica, and the other one is Cross mountain; locals used to call it Sipovac (as per wild pomegranates that were growing on the mountain)
A steep path on the Apparition Hill leads from the houses of Bijakovići to the very place of the apparitions. Along the way, in 1989, the parish set up a set of bronze reliefs representing the Joyful and the Sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. Italian sculptor artist Carmelo Puzzolo made all of the Stations of the Cross on the Cross mountain and the Apparition Hill.
On the way towards the apparition place, one can find a wooden cross, right opposite the second Joyful station, that marks the spot where Marija Pavlović received the first message with the peace as a subject. "Peace, peace, peace, and only peace! Peace must reign between men and God and among people."
For many years on the exact spot where Queen of Peace appeared to visionaries, there was a first very simple wooden and then later aluminum cross positioned on the pile of rocks. On the 20th anniversary, the marble statue of Our lady was placed on the site. The statue is the work of Dino Felici, an Italian sculptor.
In June 2002, Medjugorje Franciscans added bronze reliefs representing the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
At the foot of Apparition Hill, at the exit of Bijakovici, is the Blue Cross. Today this only for a prayer arranged place has a history going back to 1985. Visionary Ivan's prayer group gathered there regularly. On their first meetings, they had a blue cross placed before them. Until today, the site's name remains a "Blue Cross," which is a location of the apparition of Gospa to Ivan during the prayer meetings of the visionary's prayer group. They meet regularly, ever since July 4th, 1982.
Apparition Hill, Podbrdo, is one of three focal points in Medjugorje every pilgrim visits. The Cross mountain and St. James parish church are the other two!