kostel svaté Anny (Žarošice) Church

The church of St. Anne in Žarošice stands in the district of Hodonín and is a parish temple of the local parish. Although it is a rather young building, its spiritual tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. Just as a pilgrimage place, this temple is particularly valuable - since 1785, believers from a wide area have been gathering here mainly because of the glory of Old Mother of God.

The oldest written mention of the parish church dates back to June 1326. The construction has gone through a lush and stormy history of trials. In 1510 and again in 1634 the church burned down, later suffered during the Swedish pillaging in 1645 and during the Turkish raids in 1663 and 1683. In the early 18th century, the remains were no longer usable and the church was torn down. The new temple grew in its place and was ceremonially sanctified on the ninth of August 1731. This building was also unlucky - during the great fire of Jarošic from June 28, 1797 the church was destroyed again. The present church we see today dates from 1800 to 1801.

The beginnings of the pilgrimage tradition lie in the neighbouring village Silničná, where since the beginning of the 14th century there was a significant pilgrimage place. In 1785 a valuable wooden statue of the Virgin Mary was transferred from here to the Jarošice church. Since then, all the pilgrims have moved here. The statue, which enjoys extraordinary respect, measures 142 centimetres, dates back to 1325 and is carved from a single piece of wood. In May 1995 she was crowned by Jan Pavel II during her visit to St. Kopeka near Olomouc, giving the tradition world recognition.

The architecture of the church reflects the character the church adopted in the early 19th century. The building consists of rectangular triboats with a prism tower woven into the facade. The facade with central risalite is divided symmetrically, the tower carries counter shields and is divided by roms on the sides. In the facade there is a rectangular portal with a stone lining, and above it a small stone statue of St. Anne. Side entrances have a similar shape - rectangular with stone lining. The boat is lit by three pairs of rectangular windows with semi-circular arches. Inside, three pairs of arcades lead into side ships on massive pillars, while above the main entrance, there is a circle on three arcades.

A number of temples and plastics were concentrated around the church. The baroque statues of St. Joseph, Paul, Rocha and the group sculpture of St. Anne with St. John Nepomucký stand in front of the front. Behind the church, the believers will find fourteen chapels with mosaics of the cross road, made by Prague's artist Antonín Cloudy. In 1967, the church was built a space specifically for local pilgrims, decorated niche in the perimeter wall, which resembles important moments from the history of this pilgrimage place.

The main pilgrimage takes place on the second Saturday in September and remains the heart of piety for believers from all over the region. The temple is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic and is an important part of Moravian spiritual heritage.