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 In a fold of the foothills at the western end of the great Carpathian crescent, a few miles to the north of the Slovak capital, Bratislava, and an hour east of Vienna, lies a remarkable valley with a long history. It is called Marianka – Mariatal in German. A potted history: Marianka is the most ancient pilgrimage site in Slovakia and one of the oldest in Central Europe. Legend tells of a hermit who, while taking refuge in the beech forests of the valley around 1030, carved a statue of the Virgin from the wood of a pear tree. The statue was lost and fell into a nearby stream, but before long the stream became