Vintíř's Trail

Horažďovice – Blatná

In Horažďovice Vintíř's Trail leaves the Otava valley. In the direction of Chanovice the landscape takes on a hilly character with a multitude of ponds and small ponds. It is a sparsely populated border area with a picturesque landscape. The Chanovice area lies in the watershed of the Otava and Berounka rivers. The main divide between the Šumava and the Brdy Hills runs through the highest part. The entire highland is shaped such that on the south-west side it slopes gently onto the Šumava, while on the north-east side it descends towards the Brdy and the Blatná highlands. Many of the landscape elements here are naturally well-preserved and of high value. The journey is lined with a wealth of sacred buildings — churches, chapels, wayside shrines, crosses, statues, memorial trees, small monuments, springs and other interesting places that create the unique charm of this landscape.

Svéradice

Archaeological finds date the first Slavic settlement to the 10th–12th centuries. The first written mention is from 1264. The core of the settlement was a late-medieval stronghold, on whose foundations a manorial home farm was later created through conversion. The well-known Jesuit writer and missionary Albrecht Chanovský of Dlouhá Ves was born at the local stronghold.

Pilgrimage Chapel of St. Bartholomew — above the village stands a pilgrimage chapel from the second half of the 16th century, rebuilt in its present neo-Gothic form in the mid-19th century.

In the village itself, several architectural monuments in the style of South Bohemian peasant baroque have been preserved (farms, chapels).

Slatina

The Jewish synagogue has been preserved in the village in its original architectural layout; today it is privately owned. The local Jewish cemetery, lying to one side of the village near the quarry, testifies to the formerly quite large Jewish community in Slatina and the surrounding area. The synagogue building later fell out of use and served as a school.

Slatina has always been a renowned stonecutting village, and both the local granite and the skilled stonemasons were much sought after.

Chanovice

The dominant feature of the village (560 m above sea level) is the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with the adjacent baroque château and the complex of buildings of the former manorial farm. Significant holders of the estate were the Chanovský family of Dlouhá Ves. The château, built in the late baroque style on the site of an older stronghold, now houses a school.

Under the care of the local authority, two smaller museums were established. The exhibition 'A Craft is Worth its Weight in Gold' is dedicated to the traditional crafts of the region and is stylishly housed in the château cellars. The exhibition 'Play and Be Good' brings together toys, games, puppets and an entire play room. The museums are located in the former agricultural buildings of the château. Visits to both exhibitions can be arranged in advance by telephone on 00420 375 514 345 or 00420 375 514 353.

At the initiative of the Regional Museum in Klatovy, an open-air museum of Šumava buildings was established in Chanovice; it is continuously being expanded. Every year numerous enthusiasts spend their holidays here, selflessly helping free of charge with the expansion of the open-air museum and the repair and maintenance of buildings. The open-air museum is freely accessible.

The village is developing dynamically, thanks above all to the local large timber and construction combine.

Kadov

The surroundings of Kadov will surprise you with their picturesqueness and unspoilt character. It is a varied and hilly landscape that forms a natural link with the Šumava. The village lies on a long ridge at 511 m above sea level at the crossroads of the roads from Blatná and Horažďovice. The original old wooden stronghold surrounded by a moat was built here by Racek of Žihobce. As early as the 14th century the seat was owned by the squires Vintíř and Jaroslav of Kadov. Over the centuries the village frequently changed hands. Visitors to the village will be struck above all by the old quarter with its many interesting historical monuments. The surrounding area attracts attention especially through the numerous granite boulders, which prevented the large-scale consolidation of fields and meadows. Thanks to this 'difficult' terrain, many small woods, hillocks, copses and paths have been preserved, giving the landscape its distinctive character. The Kadov Rocking Stone on the edge of the village receives special attention. Another stone is said, according to legend, to have been used as a resting place by St. Adalbert (Vojtěch) on his pilgrimage.

Blatná

The town is famous above all for its rose growing. As early as the first half of the 13th century a water stronghold stood here, which the Bavors of Strakonice converted into a water castle. Subsequent alterations created a comfortable château residence, which is one of the few surviving water castles in the Czech Republic. In the 15th century the owner was Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál, brother-in-law of King George of Poděbrady, who set out from here in 1465 on a diplomatic journey through Europe described in the novel From Bohemia to the End of the World. In addition to the château, Blatná has other interesting monuments. The parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in particular ranks among the most precious works of late Gothic architecture.

Here the walk along the marked route of Vintíř's Trail ends for now. Using a tourist map or road atlas it is possible to continue all the way to our destination — the Břevnov Monastery in Prague. In this section too there are dozens of remarkable places, historical and natural attractions that deserve your attention.

Příbram

Příbram is a well-known mining town that can boast a wealth of historical monuments. The oldest written record from 1216 speaks of the sale of the estate of Příbram to the Prague bishopric (Bishop Ondřej II.) by the abbot of the monastery in Teplá. But people lived here much earlier. From the 4th century BC the Celts mined gold and silver here. Already three thousand years ago, near the little Litavka river, the famous Litava Trail came into being, which for the exchange of goods in the area of today's Central Bohemia had the same significance as the Golden Road — the Passau Trail. The dominant feature of the town is the Marian pilgrimage site of Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain), which is not only the most significant and oldest Marian pilgrimage site in Bohemia, but also a true treasury of art. The Svatá Hora complex also includes several monuments standing in the immediate vicinity of the pilgrimage site. The stone column with the gilded statue of Our Lady of Svatá Hora, which stands in the centre of the square in the axis of the Prague Gate, was commissioned in 1661 by Jaroslav Koc of Dobrš. On the slope above the approach road stands the large Calvary sculptural group.

Since 1990 the spiritual administration of Svatá Hora has again been entrusted to the priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer — the Redemptorists.

Prague – Břevnov Monastery

The second Prague bishop, St. Adalbert (Vojtěch), contributed to the founding of the monastery, bringing from Rome in 993 a group of Benedictine monks. From the very beginning Břevnov had direct support from the Bavarian monastery in Niederaltaich, from where came not only the Břevnov abbot Menhart, but also the hermit Vintíř, who in 1045 found his final resting place here. During the Hussite Wars the monastery was plundered, but Vintíř's relics were moved in time to Police. During repairs to the church in the first half of the 18th century, a wooden casket with bones and a skull was discovered in Police under the altar of St. Mary Magdalene. Despite a lack of evidence it was believed from the outset that these were Vintíř's remains, and the relics were returned to the Břevnov church. Today they are kept in a tin casket in the altar of St. Stephen in the monastery church of St. Margaret.

Source: http://www.dva.cz/vs/d8.html