Gunung Kidul, IO – Maria Tritis Cave is one of the favorite pilgrimage sites for Catholics. Initially, the cave was used as a place for Javanese rituals by the local community.
Over time, with the development of Catholic schools around the location, local parish administrators tried to obtain permits from regional authorities to make the cave a place of worship for local Catholics. So Maria Tritis Cave became one of the major places of worship for Catholics in the special region of Yogyakarta.
Before being used as a place of worship for Catholics, the cave was said to be haunted. No one dared to enter it. Local people believe that this cave was once a place of meditation for princes of the Mataram Kingdom.
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Even though it was built specifically for Catholic worship, this cave is also often visited by people of other religions as a tourist attraction. Here, one will find an altar that faces directly towards the mouth of the cave and a statue of the Virgin Mary is on the righthand side.
(IO/Jessica Yiswi)