Calvary Hill Čestice
Calvary Hill was a pilgrimage site even before the chapels were built. Today, the Chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross stands at its summit.
On the wooded hill above the village, since 1821, there has been a complex of six structures – the Calvary. The hill was a place of pilgrimage even before the chapels were constructed.
The main sanctuary – the Chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – is built in the Italian Renaissance style, and its vestibule is supported by twelve Doric columns. The sanctuary and vestibule were commissioned by Countess Reyová in gratitude for her recovery in 1820. Surrounding the sanctuary are four smaller niche chapels of the Stations of the Cross, accompanied by the Chapel of the Virgin Mary along the access path on the hillside. These structures were built by Karel Šebastian of Říčany in the mid-18th century as a replacement for the wooden crosses erected by Michal Hýzrle of Chodů.
Behind the granite boulders on the slope of Calvary Hill stands a wooden cottage with a shingled roof and a small turret. It is a hermitage with a well-preserved fresco of an old hermit inside. It was built in 1821, likely as an attraction to boost interest in the famous Čestice pilgrimages. According to local chronicles, it is unclear whether a hermit ever actually lived in Čestice. The only verified hermits from the region lived in Nihošovice and Radomyšl. The current hermitage is of more recent origin.
