Trsat used to be mostly reached by stairs, pilgrimages were often made on one's knees. There is still that now, but much less. The widely known Trsat stairs are one of the most beautiful monuments of Croatian Marian devotion. They start from the center of Sušak, along the left bank of the Rječina. They begin with the chapel of the Comforter of the Sorrowful, the Virgin and Child.
They rise with more than five hundred steps (exactly 564!) to the plain in front of the church and end with the votive chapel of Petr Kružić to the patron saint of sailors, St. Nikoli.
Let them shine under the steps of your house
I cry once like a crazy child
Because then the same thing will happen to me, slowly
They walk that leads up into the height,
A pain felt at every step,
One flower sprouted on each step.
Vladimir Nazor
Today, they bear the name of Petar Kružić, a great Croatian hero in the battles against the Turks and especially famous in the defense of the city of Klis. Petar Kružić made a pilgrimage to Trsat and thanked Our Lady of Trsat for the victories. In her honor, in 1513, he erected the first 118 steps (today there are 564), which were repaired and completed later, in 1726, by Gabrijel Franjo Aichelberg, military commander in Lika. Their merits are recorded in the passageways - Kružić's at the beginning of the stairs, on Sušak, Aichelberg's at their top, on Trsat.
Even today, you have to go up the stairs to the sanctuary in Trsat. However, it should be noted that due to the relatively steep climb, they are not recommended for people with health problems.