Devět křížů Monument

Devět křížů is a location in Brno-rural near the village Lesní Hluboké on the road II / 602, near the exit of 168 motorway D1. This is where Annahof Hotel is today, which used to work as a Devět křížů motor stop. The crosses that are standing here have become part of local history and folklore, although their true origin is difficult to verify.

The name of the site comes from the existence of nine wooden crosses, the creation of which was linked to a tragic reputation. According to the story, there was supposed to be a massacring invasion of a wedding procession in 1540 that claimed nine victims. The wedding guests were returning from the bíteše church when they were targeted by firearms in the woods. Over time, the legend created several versions - one of the basic versions was expanded by the press in 1801 by a description of the story of Veleslav and Johanna, supplemented by various details in other reconstructions. Although this story seemed credible to the readers, any documentary document is missing from the period sources. The first written mention of the crosses comes from the end of the 18th century, with Silva Smutná from the Grand Bítešska Museum Society referring to the German registration from the city chronicle of Great Bíteš from 1728.

The original crosses were erected by the Benedict monastery of Rajhrad. These were gradually renewed, and usually every 100 years their ceremonial beneciaries took place. The blessing from 1824 and from 18 September 1887, which was carried out by the Rajadh Abbot Benedict Korčian, is well known. In 1985, new crosses were erected, but later they became poor. The current crosses were made in 2018 from larch wood originating from local trees cut down in the storm in 2016. On 26 July 2020, the Benedict priest Damian Žilka of the Slovak monastery in Samporo during the pilgrimage in the Forest Hluboký carried out the benediction of these new crosses. Their physical installation on site took place in December 2020.

2012 brought a scientific attempt to verify the reputation. Archaia archaeologists together with scientists from Masaryk University examined the room, but found no human remains that could confirm the story of the 1540 massacre. According to the memories of Vladimir Ryšánek, then mayor of the Forest Deep, the bone remains were to be picked up in the 1960s during the repair of the crumbling crosses. Later, they were allegedly stored under the middle cross, but due to the repeated output of the engineering networks, it is assumed that their destruction took place in recent times.

Devět křížů is today protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic and remains an interesting place where the mysticism of local tradition with historical reality intersects.