A Marian Miracle

This renowned pilgrimage site of northwestern Bohemia has a Baroque pilgrimage church built within older cloisters. A miraculous image of the Virgin Mary was supposedly once found here. A girl from Krupka was cutting grass at the spot when a snake coiled around her arm. She screamed in fear. At that moment rays burst from a nearby lime tree, lit up the girl and stunned the snake, which slid off her arm without biting. Looking at the tree, the girl saw a Marian picture in its hollow. It is also said that fleeing nuns from the convent at Světec had hidden it there. The incident was proclaimed a miracle and the picture was taken to Krupka. The next day, however, it reappeared in the old lime tree. This happened several times, so a wooden chapel was built here. Processions came from near and far, even from Lusatia. Pilgrims brought monetary gifts, from which the pilgrimage church was built. Jesuits later settled here and built a monastery with a so-called minor seminary.