Jaroměřice offers a clear focus for a culture-oriented trip: sacred architecture and pilgrimage history can be explored here through the pilgrimage site, the Way of the Cross and the older Church of All Saints (“Všech svatých”). These themes offer different but interconnected ways to explore the area: an enclosed pilgrimage complex with a distinctive church, a route with a variety of station types and a historic building whose history dates back to the Middle Ages. Jaroměřice is an especially interesting destination if you appreciate historic religious buildings and the connections between them.
Pilgrimage Site and Santini Church
The pilgrimage site in Jaroměřice is enclosed by ambits, with three chapels along each long side. The enclosure and the chapels on both sides give the complex a clearly recognizable layout. At the eastern end stands the Santini pilgrimage church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (“Povýšení svatého Kříže”), dating from 1712–1713. The ensemble thus brings together an enclosed site and a church building with a precisely dated history. Those interested in sacred architecture will find a clearly defined focus here: the pilgrimage site, chapels and church can be understood as parts of the same complex.
Kalvárie and the Way of the Cross
Jaroměřická Kalvárie combines religious significance with a striking presence in the landscape. It is one of the three most important pilgrimage sites in the Pardubice Region and a prominent landscape feature. As a Baroque pilgrimage complex, it is also a faithful copy of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Regional significance, the landscape and the connection to Jerusalem thus offer several ways to appreciate this place. For travellers interested in pilgrimage history, Kalvárie is a distinctive cultural focal point in Jaroměřice.
The Baroque Way of the Cross in Jaroměřice runs from the Church of All Saints (“Všech svatých”) to Kalvárie and has eleven stations. Their forms vary, from chapels to sandstone columns to paintings. The route thus connects two of Jaroměřice’s sacred sites; at the same time, the number and varied forms of the stations make the Way of the Cross a subject in its own right. It can be explored both through the connection between its starting point and destination and through the variety of forms depicted along the way. Visitors interested in religious routes and their features can consider both aspects together.
The Older Church of All Saints (“Všech svatých”)
The Church of All Saints (“Všech svatých”) was built around the 12th century as a single-nave Gothic church with a tower and is the oldest historic building in Jaroměřice. Its early date provides a different point of reference from the Santini pilgrimage church, which dates from 1712–1713. The church’s history also includes a later phase: under Jan Bartodějský z Bartoděj, who held the Jaroměřice estate from 1609 to 1611, the church was probably remodelled in the Baroque style. This probable alteration should be distinguished from its approximate date of construction in the 12th century.
The church also contains a tombstone dating from 1562. It depicts the knight Jan z Linhartic, who resided at the fortress in Jaroměřice. This dated tomb adds a specific historical detail to the building’s history. Taken together, the approximate medieval construction date, the probable later remodelling and the tombstone reflect different periods in the area’s history. Visitors discovering Jaroměřice through its buildings will encounter not only the Baroque pilgrimage complex but also an older historic building with its own history.
Discover more destinations: Třebařov, Chotovice, Čistá, Rudná, Karle, Staré Město, Víska U Jevíčka, Janůvky.
Go to the main travel overview: Okres Svitavy.
