Slipping through time, imagine 1720s Prague. Pilgrims trod a path from Prague to Loreta v Hájku, marked by twenty wayside shrines. These shrines, commissioned by Florian Jetřich Žďárský, founder of the Loreta chapel, dotted the landscape. Each shrine, rectangular and eight meters tall, told a piece of the Virgin Mary’s life and Saint Francis’s story. III. kaple poutní cesty Loreta – Hájek stands as a testament to this pilgrimage. These weren’t just shelters. They were adorned with the crests of their patrons, a who’s who of Bohemian elite. Prague’s archbishop, the highest spiritual authority, sponsored the first. The second bore the coat of arms of Count Vrtba, the Supreme Burgrave. Count Nostitz, the Supreme Hofmeister, followed on the third. The hierarchy continued down to the twelfth shrine. The thirteenth had no patron, but the fourteenth showcased the emblem of Prague’s Old Town magistrate. From the fifteenth onwards, lesser nobles took patronage. Sadly, time has taken its toll. Only twelve of the original twenty shrines remain. III. kaple poutní cesty Loreta – Hájek, if it survived, would likely hold fragments of these stories. The frescoes, divided horizontally, would depict scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and St. Francis, accompanied by Latin inscriptions. Above the lintel, the patron’s crest would proclaim their support. Although much is lost, the remaining shrines and the historical records allow us to glimpse this grand procession of faith and power. They whisper stories of pilgrims seeking solace, nobles displaying their piety, and artists bringing sacred tales to life on the path to Loreta v Hájku.
Lochkovský potok
Listen closely. Have you ever felt the hush of a hidden stream a secret whispered among the trees? That’s the