CZECH REPUBLIC Křtiny

Křtiny  is a market town located northeast of Brno in the picturesque Moravian Karst. It is an old Marian pilgrimage site. It is sometimes called the Pearl of Moravia. The Baroque pilgrim complex consists of the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, which houses the Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary of Křtiny, St Anne’s Chapel, the Provost’s Residence and other buildings. The church is the work of Giovanni Santini, one of the most important architects of the European Baroque style, who built dozens of important buildings in Bohemia and Moravia. It is the architect’s largest building constructed on the ground plan of a Greek cross. A huge ossuary is located in the crypt below the church, where an unusual collection twelve skulls painted with laurel wreaths and the letter T was found.

Legend says that this is a place where pagans were baptised when Saint Methodius and his brother Konstantin brought Christianity to Central Europe. Křtiny is the Czech word baptisms.

The surrounding woods provide the perfect setting for the complex. A stroll will take you to an arboretum and monuments to famous foresters.