Chapels, Wayside Shrines and Crosses

Chapel of St. Wenceslas

The Chapel of St. Wenceslas was built by the village of Slatina in 1865 at a cost of 300 guilders. In the roof structure there is a small turret housing a bell donated in 1837 by Eduard Knight Daubek. The bell bears the inscription: 'To the honour and praise of St. Wenceslas, donated by the owner of the estate, Knight Dr. Eduard Daubek. Cast by Anna, daughter of Karel Bellmann, in Prague, 1837'. Originally a bell inscribed 'Kunáš' hung here; when it cracked it was recast. Inside the chapel is a statue of the scourged Saviour (Ecce Homo), which the village judge Ladman reportedly purchased at auction for half a thaler. It comes from the abolished Horažďovice monastery. On the wall there was a painting of St. Wenceslas, also donated by Knight Daubek and probably painted by his protégé, the painter František Bohuslav Doubek. There was reportedly also a small image of the Virgin Mary, moved here from the original wayside shrine. The present chapel was built in 1865 on the site of the old, already considerably dilapidated chapel, which was smaller and had a square ground plan. This small building appears in the military map of 1780 and later in the stable cadastre map of 1834. Originally a wayside shrine with an image of the Virgin Mary reportedly stood at this spot.

Chapel of St. Barbara

The Chapel of St. Barbara 'Na Hradcích' is a masonry baroque niche chapel built on the hill by the quarry, to the left of the road to Chanovice. It probably dates from the late 18th century. Once there was a spring below it and during droughts processions would come to it. Petitioners, according to tradition, had to pour all the water out of it to summon rain. St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners, so the dedication of this chapel is probably connected with stone quarrying in the quarry and surrounding area. The panel painting of St. Barbara was painted by the academic painter Josef Fencl of Prague.

Chapel of St. Wenceslas (Niche Chapel)

The niche chapel of St. Wenceslas is built into the corner of the former manorial wall on the road leading to Čečelovice and Slivovice. It is a reminder of the 'castle' chapel which was part of the manorial seat of the Záborský family of Brloho and later also of the Kunaš family of Machovice. The height of the niche built into the wall supports the account that a statue of the scourged Christ was once placed in it.

Crosses

The cross from 1837 in the plague cemetery (bearing also the date 1935, when it was repaired) commemorates the great plague that afflicted the Bohemian Kingdom in 1680–1681 and did not spare Slatina either. Less than a hundred years ago it was still possible to count 22 graves at the plague burial ground where the cross stands. The most victims came from the Vyšehrad family farmstead, where 111 people died. Among the victims of this plague was also the Kadov parish priest Ignác Hladík, who died near Slatina, where he had just gone to administer the last rites to a dying person. The plague grave with the cross lies to the left of the road to Kadov and was always a 'frightening' place for children on their way to school in Kadov.

Stone crosses are erected at several places in and around the village. In front of the 'U Fialů' building on the road to Chanovice stands a cross from 1883; opposite the quarry dump, on the left side, stands a smaller stone cross from 1918 commemorating the end of the First World War. A fine stone cross stands by the road to Svéradice. It stands to the left before the village, is decorated in relief and bears the date 1888. A significant position is occupied by the cross 'U Topolu' (By the Poplar), which stands at the crossroads of the Slatina–Čečelovice and Svéradice–Kadov roads. In 1848 it was erected by František Prokopius as an expression of thanks to God. Once when he was resting by the cross he dreamed that he was climbing a long ladder into heaven. Being a very devout man, he saw this as a pleasant vision of his afterlife. The poplar — today a fine, stately tree — was planted by the Slatina shepherd Pech. 'U Pána' (By the Lord) is the name of a place in Hrašice in the direction of Čečelovice, where in 1680 an unknown gentleman was buried. He was riding through on horseback and suddenly — evidently struck by plague — died. The local people buried him on the spot and planted a wild rose bush there. This place of remembrance was never cultivated.