Pilgrimage sites in northern Czech Republic

Jiřetín pod Jedlovou and Rumburk are two town in the Ústi nad Labem Region, in the north of Czech Republic.
One of the most significant features of Jiřetín pod Jedlovou is Křížová hora, the Cross Mountain, which became a place of pilgrimage in the 18th century.
Rumburk is famous because of its beautiful historical inner city with many historical sights, including the Loreto Chapel.

Foto-Design © Ateliér Stejskal Jiretin

Křížová hora became a place of pilgrimage due to the legend about a revelation of our savior to seven brothers. Thanks to this legend A Way of the Cross was built up to the mountain.  The local vicar, Gottfried Liessner, was the one who got credit for building The Way of the Cross and the chapel. He was blessed on 17th September 1764.  The Way of the Cross with 11 walled chapels all with relief scenes of the saints leads to the chapel. The 12th and the 13th stops are the chapel of the Cross and the 14th one is the chapel of God's Grave. In 1969 the whole area was proclaimed a cultural monument.

A legend tells about seven brothers who saw The Messiah on the Cross. He urged them to return. Only the youngest one returned even though his legs were not healthy. He had the wooden cross built on the edge of the mountain. He prayed there for a long time and he recovered. The place became well known and since that time lots of sick people came to the cross believing that they too might recover. - in: http://www.ceskosaske-svycarsko.cz/tourist-attractions/krizova-hora.html

Foto-Design © Ateliér Stejskal Jiretin

The construction of the Loreto started in 1704. The beautiful embossed stuccos were completed in 1709. The donor of the building was Anthony Florian of Liechtenstein. It is presumed that the church was designed by byl Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, author of significant Baroque structures in Austria. The building was inspired by the Italian „Holy Hut“, but locally extracted sandstone was used to make the ten Sibyls and ten prophets instead of marble, which is used in the case of the Italian Loreto. In addition to the reliefs and sculptures, the exterior of the Loreto also includes Corinthian semi-columns with richly decorated capitals. Inside the Loreto is a copy of “Miraculous Black Madonna” of cedar wood decorated with gold and diamonds. - in: http://turistika.ceskesvycarsko.cz/en/locations/rumburk-loreto-0