Pilgrimage Church of the Virgin Mary

Mystical Pilgrimage Baroque Church in Czechia + lovely Czech folcroric songs

The pilgrimage church of the Birth of the Virgin at Křtiny, nestling in a lovely wooded valley near Brno, is a typical example of Czech Baroque planning. The years 1712-1750 saw the construction of the massive cross-shaped central edifice with its monumental dome and facade surmounted by a tower for which the genial Baroque architect, Giovani B. Santini, supplied the plans. The focus of the church was a spectacular 13th century statue of the benevolent Virgin, the object of the pilgrims´ worship.
All this compilation of great baroque monumental architecture with mostly too decorative items contrasts with the naivity and sincere faith of simple poor people doing their pilgrimage manytimes each year more than 400 years, covering the walls of the surrounding corridor by naive folcloric portraits of Mary The Virgin decorated with dryied roses and tables with thanksgivings for treating diseases and preserving against wars..

Božena Šebetovská, Moravian folcloric female singer, comes from south Moravia, the region nearby Brno where folocloric song in Czechia has the most important tradition; she never studied so her voice is completely natural, emotive, full of passion and special Slavonic melancholy...these frolcloric songs are very popular till nowadays and many Czech people sing them together celebrating mariage, pilgrimage or simply for enjoying theirselves...