Earth flour

Nearby, on Chloumek near Habřina, Cyril and Methodius are said to have founded a chapel. The Church of Saint Wenceslas was later built on its site. A remarkable legend survived here about “earth flour” mined beneath the hill, from which excellent bread was supposedly baked in times of famine. This clay is striking in colour, especially in spring, though evidently no one has made bread from it for a long time. J. Beckovský mentions a similar case in his Poselkyně starých příběhů českých for the year 1623: “Near Čáslav, flour made from earth and found in the ground was discovered, from which people baked bread and ate it without harm.” Underground passages containing hidden treasures are also said to run beneath Chloumek.