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Žďár nad Sázavou - Tour of the city 2

Map of the tour.

A) Using the Stará radnice (Old Town Hall) (1) as our starting point, we walk to the Church of St. Prokop (2) and the Regional Museum in Tvrz (3), where we can see various exhibitions on different themes. We walk back down Radniční Street to the square and to the Hotel Veliš, where we turn right and enter the pedestrian zone along Nádražní Street and to the park. We then return to the Sokolovna (4) and the Městské divadlo (City Theatre) (5) along Hutařova Street. We then turn right to the Church of Nejsvětější Trojice (Holy Trinity) and then return back to the square and its dominant feature, the Plague Column. A walk of approximately one hour will allow us to see buildings which are linked not only with the city’s history, but also with the present day. B) A visit to the chateau and its surroundings would require a separate visit. The tour starts with a visit to the Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora (1) and continues to the Táferna inn, where we turn right onto the bridge adorned with statues of the saints and we continue to the chateau. We can visit the Book Museum (2), Convent Church of Nanebevzetí Panny Marie (The Assumption of the Virgin Mary) (3), an exhibition on the architect Santini (4) and the Kinský Gallery. From the Chateau we go to the Dolní (Lower) (or also plague) cemetery (5) and the Pilská nádrž (Pilská pond) (6). We can return to the city either by public transport or using the route by which we came.

Maybe you were unaware that...

  • According to legend a crown with five stars appeared above the body of St. John of Nepomuk, and therefore Santini used the symbolism of the number five in his project. The foundation consists of a five-pointed floorplan, five entrances, five altars, twenty-five chapels around the central area, and five stars and five angels on the high altar. These symbolise the five wounds of Christ, the five letters in the Latin word “tacui” (I kept silent) and in particular the five stars in the martyr’s halo, which appeared, according to the same legend, in the River Vltava.
  • In the cupola there is a likeness of the saint’s tongue, which is a symbol of the secrets of the confessional. We find the same motif in the form of the pointed windows, which resemble a sheathed sword or, in other words, his tongue remained hidden in his mouth like a sword in a sheath.