Licheń Stary ' is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in the administrative district of Gmina Ślesin

Gmina Slesin

Gmina Ślesin is an urban-rural gmina in Konin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Ślesin, which lies approximately north of Konin and east of the regional capital Poznań....

, within Konin County

Konin County

Konin County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Konin, although the city...

, Greater Poland Voivodeship

Greater Poland Voivodeship

Wielkopolska Voivodeship , or Greater Poland Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998...

, in west-central Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. It lies approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) south-east of Ślesin

Slesin

Ślesin is a town in Konin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,324 inhabitants . In partitioned Poland it belonged to the Russian-controlled Congress Kingdom from 1815; it returned to Poland when the country regained its independence in 1918....

, 14 km (9 mi) north-east of Konin

Konin

Konin is a city in central Poland.Konin may also refer to:*Emperor Kōnin , emperor of Japan who reigned 770–781**Kōnin , a Japanese era name for the years 810–824...

, and 99 km (62 mi) east of the regional capital Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

. The village has a population of 1,100.

The village's name means "old Licheń"; it is often referred to as simply Licheń. Legends trace the name to the ancient Slavic

Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....

 pagan deity Licho, whose sanctuary

Sanctuary

A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...

 was allegedly located nearby.

Licheń Stary is the site of Poland's largest church, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Licheń

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen

The Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń is a Roman Catholic church located in the village of Licheń Stary near Konin in the Greater Poland Voivodeship in Poland. It was designed by Barbara Bielecka and built between 1994 and 2004...

, completed in 2004, which houses icon of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland

Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland

.Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, Our Lady of Licheń, or Virgin of Licheń is a Roman Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary, most likely painted in 1772...

. The sanctuary was constructed to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who come to venerate the image of the Virgin Mary, which according to tradition has been miraculous.