After the reconstruction of another part of the pilgrimage site of the Knights of the Red Star Teutonic Order, a new museum was opened in the provost's building, which presents the art collections of the local provost's office. The tour also includes the underground spaces under the pilgrimage site.
View from the renovated rectory building
Chlum sv. Máří is a pilgrimage site that has attracted pilgrims from near and far for centuries. Its origins date back to the last third of the 14th century, when it was built from a Gothic church built around a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus in a walnut tree. According to legend, the statue was discovered by a young journeyman and, no matter where he took it, it always returned to this place. People first built a wooden roof over it and later the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built here.
The first pilgrimage church was built here around 1400, which was rebuilt in Baroque style between 1687 and 1728 according to the plans of the architect Kryštof Dienzenhofer. At that time, Chlum Svaté Maří was administered by the Knights of the Teutonic Order with the Red Star and in the 18th century it was one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the country – and it did not lose its importance even despite the Josephine reforms.
However, in the second half of the 20th century, the place suffered a difficult fate. In the late 1950s, the Crusaders were expelled and the area was transformed into a hostel and later into a depository of church art. Although it was listed as a cultural monument in 1958, it fell into disrepair for a long time. Today, thanks to the return of the Crusaders, it is gradually being restored and is rediscovering its former beauty and spiritual strength.
Photo 1-3: From the collections of the church museum in Chlum sv. Máří