The Hradiště Foothill Miracle

A little off the track on the north-eastern slope of the hill, you can visit another local attraction – a picturesque pilgrimage site with a statue of the Virgin Mary. If you head from Konstantinovy Lázně towards Poloučany, turn right just before the end of the town under the hill. Here, at the crossroads, turn left and then a forest path with steps will lead you to the site.

Like a proper place of pilgrimage, the site has its own legend of origin, recorded in the mid-17th century. At that time, a gamekeeper’s wife and her children used to go to the hillside in the forest to pick berries. There, one of her daughters got lost and did not return home until the evening. Her parents and neighbours searched for her. After a long search, she was found sitting in a hollow under the rocks. When asked if she had been scared in the night, she replied that a beautiful, glowing lady had appeared with a little boy playing with her. Everyone concluded that it must have been the Virgin Mary.

Out of gratitude, the parents had a statue of the saint erected at the spot where their daughter was found. People from the wider area then began to come to this place and at the statue to ask for help in their trouble. According to the chroniclers’ records, the small Lourdes cave with the statue was actually established by someone T. Putzer from the Gutštejn gamekeeper’s lodge. The picturesque place under the steep rocks is beautifully landscaped and visited by pilgrims, tourists and spa guests.