Šembera and the Devil

Jan Černohorský of Boskovice, called Šembera, the owner of the Bučovice estate, became the hero of many local legends. While he was building his château in Bučovice, the devil carried each day’s work into a swamp by the Litávka every night. In the end Šembera had no choice but to build in the marshes. Šembera once wrestled with the devil. For a long time neither could win, until Šembera seized the devil by the tail and hurled him against a wall so hard that his blood splashed all over it. The devil fled, howling in pain. His blood supposedly soaked into the wall, and every attempt to scrape it away or whitewash it failed. It can still be seen today, but only by a just person; to the dishonest, the wall looks like any other. According to tradition, the statue of a Bacchant on the courtyard fountain is the petrified Jan Šembera, punished thus by the devil for his sins. Beyond the village of Obřany was a small cave in the woods through which the devil eventually dragged Šembera into hell. After death he also appeared as a fiery horse. See Brno.