(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 15 AUG - Thousands of Croats are expected to flock towards Marian shrines in the country to celebrate the 'Velika Gospa', the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, a major feast day on August 15. The festivity, also a public holiday, is very much part of the local culture in Croatia, a country where almost 86% of the population define itself as Catholic. Mass pilgrimages, processions and masses will be held across the country, from Marija Bistrica to Dubrovnik, Porec, Rijeka, Aljmas, Split, Pag and in several other cities and towns, with celebrations and prayers organized also in Medjugorje and Siroki Brijeg, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One of the main pilgrimages locations will be as every year the Marian sanctuary in the town of Sinj, in the Dalmatian hinterland, where thousands will bow and pray before the famous painting of the Madonna, a canvas from the 16th century painted by an unknown artist. The 'Gospa Sinjska', the Virgin Mary of Sinj, is the city patron and is particularly venerated by the local Catholics.

"The Croatian people have always worshipped the Blessed Virgin Mary" and "they have also invoked her through history as fidelissima advocata Croatiae (the most devoted advocate of Croatia)," materials from the Croatian National Tourist Board recall. (ANSA).