Religious sites and places of
pilgrimage are a great part of architectural heritage of the Czech Republic.
Although most of the churches, monasteries, chapels and pilgrimage places are
Roman-Catholic, there also are many Jewish and Orthodox Christian sights.
Religious architecture has gone through more than a thousand years' development.
From ancient times, people have visited sacred places where they believed their
prayers would be particularly effective. Christians also longed to rest in
meditation at such places, they wanted to see the remains of saints or other
incredible objects, they believed in the miraculous power of healing springs.
Pilgrimages to Jerusalem, to Palestine - to the places touched by Christ's
presence - or to the graves of martyrs in Rome are as old as Christianity
itself. The Catholic Church always recommended pilgrimages, undertook them and
sometimes interpreted them as a sing of penitence. There are hundreds of such
pilgrimage sites in the Czech Republic, with more than 300 of them associated
with the Virgin Mary. A visit to any of them is a profound spiritual and
aesthetic experience, inspiring and strengthening not only for Catholics, but
also for those of other faiths and even atheists.
Most Visited Religious Sites
Bohosudov - the Church of the Sorrowful Virgin. Ceska Kamenice - the pilgrimage Chapel of the Nativity of Our Lady. Dobra Voda - the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (healing springs). Frydek - the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary (Baroque interior). Hejnice - is sought out by pilgrims for the merciful sculpture called Mater Formosa. Hostyn - the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Protector of Moravia, services several times a day. Kajov - the pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Kladruby - the pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Klokoty - the Baroque pilgrimage area, ten towers with ten bells recall the clasped hands of the Virgin Mary. Kraliky - Mons Matris, the chapel of the Holy Steps. Krtiny - pilgrimage area, mass daily. Levy Hradec - the Church of St Kliment is linked with the activity of St Adalbert. Male Svatonovice - community is surrounded by the miraculous Mary well with seven springs of healing water. Olomouc - Svaty Kopecek, monumental Baroque Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. Prague - St Wenceslas Chapel in St Vitus Cathedral, open daily, Czech crown jewels are deposited here. Infant of Prague - the Church of Our Lady of Victory, Prague, celebration on 25th each month. Prague - the statue of the Virgin Mary from Exile in the garden of the Strahov Premonstrate monastery. Prague Loreta - in the Hradcany district. Pribram - Sacred Mountain, Queen of the Silver Mountains with Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, listed in UNESCO. Pribyslavice - the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady. Provodov - the Church of the Gentle Virgin Mary. Radhost - pilgrimage Chapel, celebration on 23rd June. Stara Boleslav - Palladium of the Bohemian Lands. Velehrad - the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Cyril and Methodius, celebration on 5th July. Vranov - Mother of God near Brno. Zarosice - one of the oldest pilgrimage spots, celebration with Baroque ceremonial and with folk costumes - first Sunday after 8th September. Zeliv - the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady.
Mary's Feasts
01.01. Mother of God, the Virgin Mary
25.03. The Annunciation
15.08. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary
08.12. The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady
The Holy Days of Mary
18.01. The Virgin Mary, Mother of the Unity of
Christians
02.02. Candle mass (The Purification of Our Lady in the Temple of
Jerusalem)
31.05. The Visitation of the Virgin Mary
22.08. The Queen of Heaven
08.09. The Nativity of Our Lady
12.09. The Most Holy Name of Mary
15.09. The Sorrowful Virgin
07.10. Our Lady of the Rosary
21.11. The Presentation of Our Lady
On these holy days
pilgrimages usually take place (according to the dedication of the church); the
spiritual orders of individual places publish their own pilgrimage calendars.
Most Saturdays and the months of May and October are devoted to the Virgin Mary.
Aside from masses, the churches are often closed for security reasons.
Map of Religious Sites in the Czech Republic -
click here.