Hrvatsko zagorje can boast of valuable gothic and baroque churches and many parish fête sites of which we will single out the most renowned and go down a path of pilgrims who since the ancient times celebrated Mary by walking towards her miraculous places.

Marian Routes – the routes which will be mentioned in this text, are a way of reconstruction of ancient routes which connect the Slovenian and Croatian Marian shrines among which Ptujska Gora and Svete gore nad Bistricom ob Sotli stand out. By crossing near Kumrovec onto the Croatian side, the route connects the shrines in Vinagora and Trški Vrh with the national shrine in Marija Bistrica on one side and on the other it lowers from Ptujska Gora over Cvetlin, Lepoglava, Lobor and Belec into the shrine. The third route to Marija Bistrica passes from Dubrava Križovljanska and connects with the route from Varaždin.

To Marija Bistrica, which is a meeting point for all pilgrimage routes, leads the route from Sv. Ivan Zelina. One of the more trafficked is the one connecting Zagreb with the national shrine and to which a special importance was given by the blessed Alojzije Stepinac. The marked road which leads from his native place Krašić over Zagreb, Marija Bistrica and all to Lepoglava was named after him.