In a tranquil valley in the heart of Central Europe lies an ancient place of pilgrimage: a place of healing that anyone of faith should visit at least once, writes Nigel Baker, British Ambassador to the Holy See.

Just north of the Slovak capital, Bratislava, lies a remarkable valley with a long history, called Marianka . It has been a pilgrim destination for more than a millennium due to its miraculous healing waters by the power of a Virgin Mary statue.

Marianka is a gateway to an undersung part of Europe, of medieval and Baroque churches, ruined castles, history broken and recovered. Huns, Germans, Mongols, Slovaks, Magyar barons, Napoleonic armies, bourgeois entrepreneurs and Communist apparatchiks have all marked their passage.

Today it is a quiet, unspectacular spot, a place to renew your faith and restore your soul.