Dunajovická hora and the Way of the Cross

If you're familiar with the Třeboň Basin, you know that there aren't many hills here, so you might not expect a “mountain” in this region. Yet six kilometers northwest of Třeboň lies Dunajovická hora, which belongs to the village of Dunajovice.

With an elevation of 504 meters, Dunajovická hora is the highest peak in the area. Its northeastern slope offers a beautiful view of the countryside around Veselí nad Lužnicí. In 1939, a wooden lookout tower was built on the hill. By the late 1940s, it had to be removed due to its poor condition and was briefly replaced with a triangulation tower located at the hill’s highest point. The tourist tower stood near the ninth station of the Way of the Cross, and its concrete foundations are still visible today.

Over 200 years ago, the hill was treeless and its slopes were covered with pastures. Today, it is almost entirely overgrown with pine and mixed forests, which conceal, among other things, a decommissioned stone quarry. The first record of stone mining is from 1458 in the archives of the Rosenberg family, who owned the estate at the time. Mining ceased in 1963 due to high groundwater levels. Most of the houses in Dunajovice are still built from stone mined here. The quarry is now completely flooded and used for recreational fishing. Fishing permits can be obtained at the municipal office in Dunajovice.

At the end of the 19th century, a Way of the Cross with paintings by Dean Bedřich Kamarýt from Deštná was built near the summit using funds from a public collection. Fourteen chapels depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ lead through the forest surrounding the flooded quarry. At the end of the Way of the Cross stands a Neo-Baroque chapel of the Holy Cross, built in 1885 above a spring. The water flowing from it is said to be healing – a fact confirmed by locals. So come “to the mountain,” as they say here!