Sanctuary of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In Bolshovce, Ukraine, there is a picturesque hilltop monastery of the Blessed Jakub Strzemię Monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual - Franciscans and the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the Bolshovce Sanctuary of Our Lady.

Historical sources connect the establishment of the former church and monastery of the Třevičské Carmelite Fathers, now Franciscans, with the legend of the miraculous fished-out of the image of the Mother of God from the Dniester River by Hetman Martin Kazanovsky (1563-1636).

Bolshovce (or Bohushovce) is located in the diocese of Lviv, in the district of Rohatyn. In 1902, Fr Waclaw of Sulgostow (Edward Nowakowski) wrote: "In the local church of the Trzewiczek Carmelites there is a miraculous image of the Mother of God, the history of which is as follows: Marcin Kazanowski, castellan of Halych (later provincial governor of Podolia and crown field hetman) in 1620 at Cecora, was captured by a miraculous image of the Mother of God. In 1620, near Cecora, he was captured by the Turks, dressed in a simple coat of arms, unrecognised, and saved himself with a small ransom; later, in 1620 or 1621 or 1624 (I am not sure), when chasing the Tatars, he was crossing the Dniester River on a ferry, his dog spotted an object in the water, jumped off the ferry, caught it and gave it to Kazanowski. It was a trumpet-shaped picture of the Mother of God. Kazanowski then beat the Tartars and ordered a thanksgiving service to be held in front of the painting. Afterwards, he erected a wooden church dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on his estate in Bołszowiec, and founded a foundation for it. Mary and founded a monastery of the Discalced Carmelites" ("O cudownych obrazach w Polsce Przenajświętszej Matki Bożej wiadomości historyczne, bibliograficzne i ikonograficzne przez X. Wacława z Sulgostowa. Wacława z Sulgostowa Kapucyna", Kraków 1902, p. 58).

The foundation act of the monastery was issued by Hetman Kazanowski on 23 February 1623. The church was put into use in 1624, just one year after the foundation. The temple, built in haste, soon began to provide problems and as early as 1648 its first comprehensive repair was carried out. Subsequent repairs were linked, among other things, to the fact that the monastery complex was the target of attacks by Swedes, Cossacks, Tatars and Turks. After the last Turkish invasion, when they managed to remove the miraculous painting to Lvov, the devastated temple was out of use for several decades. Reconstruction was started by crown army colonel Jan Galecki in gratitude for the miraculous healing. The church was consecrated again in 1725. On 15 August 1777, the miraculous painting of the Mother of God of Bolshovtsia was solemnly crowned. A considerable sum was donated by Duke Antoni Barnaba Jablonovski for the decoration and preparation of the artistic setting of the coronation of the image of the Mother of God in the Carmelite church in Bolshovtsy, as well as for the paintings in the church. Since the coronation, crowds of believers have gathered in front of the miraculous image every year on the feast of Our Lady of the Scapular - falling on 16 July.

Another difficult moment in the history of the monastery was the years of the First World War. In 1916, the church was in the front line, shelled and partially burnt down, and later witnessed Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik battles. Until 1920, the church was devastated and plundered. Major renovation work was undertaken in 1931 and completed in 1938.

. Conservation work
After the Second World War, the monastery complex deteriorated and fell into ruins. The miraculous painting of Our Lady of Bolshovia was taken by the Carmelites to Lviv and then to Krakow in 1945. Today it can be found in St Catherine's Church in Gdansk. There is a copy of the miraculous painting in Bolshovce. Commissioned by the Archikultura Foundation in 2016, a new altar painting was created for the Sanctuary in Bolshovce. It is a copy of the 'Madonna and Child under an apple tree' by Lukas Cranach the Elder, a painting that was probably the prototype of the Bolshovce Mother of God.

It was only at the end of the 1980s that the devastated church in Bolshovce was covered with sheet metal, and at the beginning of the 21st century the monastery complex was placed under the protection of the "Old Halych" National Reserve. In 2001, an interdisciplinary research team from Poland, including archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, architects, conservationists and specialists in construction and geotechnics, joined the programme to save the monastery complex.

Specialists from the Silesian University of Technology, Wrocław University, Wrocław University of Life Sciences, among others, participated in the Polish-Ukrainian projects in Bolshovce. Archaeologists from Wrocław found the remains of Hetman Kazanowski while carrying out work in 2006. In 2010, the state of renovation work allowed the Franciscans to move from Halych to the Bolshovce monastery.

In recent years, the church has been included in a restoration project carried out at the request of the Province of St Anthony and Blessed James Strzemię of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual - Franciscans within the framework of the Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad'. Conservation work on the paintings is led by Aleksandra Trochimowicz. Funds for the restoration of the monastery came from the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

A Youth Centre for Peace and Reconciliation has also been established in Bolshovce. The Franciscan Fathers, in cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities and in agreement with the President of the Republic of Poland, have decided to establish a Youth Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Bolshovtsy. This is one of the most important initiatives of the Bolshovets Franciscans. Since 2002, the Franciscan Youth Encounters have been held in Bolshovce. Pilgrims travel to the shrine of Our Lady of Bolshovtsy from Lviv, Ternopil and other places. The Youth Meeting lasts several days and is a retreat-evangelisation event prepared by the Franciscans with the participation of nuns and young people from Ukraine and volunteers from Poland.