THE PAST

Bílá hora (White Mountain)… a hillock west of Prague where white marlite used to be mined. There used to be only a road leading to Prague, nothing else. It was this road that travellers, merchants, messengers as well as armies would follow from the west to the city gate at Strahov. When this last obstacle had been overcome, a view of Prague opened up to comers. In winter it was the place where the snow came first of all the town and remained for the longest time…

The defenestration of the royal officials on 23 May 1618 leads to a revolt of the Estates, the Czech Estates refuse to recognise the rule of Ferdinand II of Habsburg and elect Prince Frederick of the Palatinate as king in 1619. On his way to Prague via Bílá Hora, he stops at the Royal Star Summer House (Hvězda) where he is greeted by representatives of the Estates and the inhabitants of Prague. However, his reign is short-lived…

The Battle

8. 11. 1620
After two years of political and military struggle, the Estates’ troops clash with the Imperial troops, reinforced by the army led by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, on the plain of Bílá Hora shortly after noon. The battle, not very significant in terms of duration and scale, has far-reaching consequences for the further development of Bohemia and the whole of Europe. In the months after the battle, the whole of Catholic Europe celebrates a surprising victory while the Protestant part of Europe tries to overcome its dismay and mobilises. The terrible Thirty Years’ War begins. It is a war with great financial and social consequences, the perception and interpretation of which changed in the following centuries depending on the times and social or political tendencies.

Litetarure:

HOLUB, Bonifác Jan. Paměti farnosti u svaté Markéty v Břevnově a blízkého okolí. Praha: Benediktinské arciopatství sv. Vojtěcha a sv. Markéty, 2014. Pietas benedictina.
CHALINE, Olivier. Bílá hora. Praha: Karolinum, 2013.
KAVKA, František. Bílá hora a české dějiny. Praha: Garamond, 2003.
PEKAŘ, Josef. Postavy a problémy českých dějin: Výbor z díla. 2. vyd. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1990.
TEIGE, Josef, KUFFNER, Hanuš, HAJN, Antonín, HÝSEK, Miloslav, and WIRTH, Zdeněk. Na Bílé hoře. 2., přeprac. vyd. Praha: A. B. Černý, 1921.
UHLÍŘ, Dušan. Černý den na Bílé hoře: 8. listopad 1620. Brno: Ave, 1998.

The Church

In 1622, Prague archbishop Johann Lohelius appealed to the faithful to collect money for building a chapel at Bílá Hora. On the anniversary of the battle in 1624 there is a procession going from St Vitus’s Cathedral in Prague right up to the chapel. Since then people from the area start coming here. During the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) the chapel is damaged by Swedish troops and later it is transformed into an ossuary. The processions are translated to the Carmelite Church of the same name, the Church of Saint Mary of Victory (today known as “Infant Jesus of Prague”). A Bavarian mason Michael Hagen starts to reconstruct the chapel at his own expense and serves as a sacristan here till the end of his days. However, Kristian Luna, a burgher of Hradčany, and Fraternity of Bílá Hora come soon and their plans are more ambitious. A presbytery is attached to the building and the chapel is dedicated to Saint Mary of Victory on 8 August 1706. A copy of so-called miraculous picture is made for the main altar in 1708. After that a sacristy with a belfry and side chapels are built due to which the church has now a cross ground plan. Nevertheless, complications arise during this construction work, that is why a famous architect Jan Blažej Santini is called upon. In 1714 the original dome is pulled down and a new, higher one is built. The style of his work is evident in the corner chapels as well. Paintings of the central dome are assigned to a renowned Bavarian painter Cosmas Damian Asam. Fotogalerie

Art history literature

HORYNA, M., and NOVOSÁDOVÁ, O. Praha-Bílá hora: poutní kostel sv. Panny Marie Vítězné. Stavebně historický průzkum SÚRPMO, 1977.
ROYT, Jan. Obraz a kult v Čechách 17. a 18. století. 2., dopl. a přeprac. vyd. Praha: Karolinum, 2011.
VÁCHA, Štěpán: K původu a kultu milostného obrazu Panny Marie Vítězné ze Štěnovic. Minulostí Západočeského kraje / Plzeň : Albis International, 2010, s. 7–31.

Renovation

Since the building of the pilgrimage site between 1704 and 1735 there were no significant architectural changes. The site was completely repaired in 1811 when it was reopened. At this time the missing statues and furnishings were replenished. In the following years the usual necessary repairs that are well-documented (documents were discovered in the gilded ball of the cross on the central dome in 2017) were carried out. Due to inappropriate restoration interventions from the turn of the 19th and 20th century, some parts of the original wall paintings are lost.

After the Second World War the pilgrimage site and especially its roofs have fallen into disrepair. The roofs were renewed thanks to the long-time administrator Prof. Václav Bogner (partly with his own help) and in the 1970s and 1980s the entire courtyard underwent a complete overhaul. Prof. Mojmír Horyna also contributed significantly to the preservation of the place in its historical form.

Between 2006 and 2013 the former parish house and adjacent buildings underwent complete rehabilitation and were adapted to the life of the convent community–Venio Abbey. A new house for the accommodation of sisters was built as well. Between 2015 and 2020 the church and courtyard, including the front gardens in front of the main pilgrimage site gate, were repaired.

In 2018 the pilgrimage site has been pronounced a “National Heritage Site”.

Gallery

PRESENT DAYS

Our intention is to offer a place and space for reconciliation of inner conflicts and struggles every man and woman goes through and with which they come to this place. It is not only with the help of prayer and overall atmosphere that you get the possibility to calm and quieten down but also through music, art (both old and modern), dance and other creative ideas which the beauty of the Baroque pilgrimage site inspires to. Our premises offer the possibility to put aside all one’s troubles and leave with something new, something transformed. We remain open to the question what the pilgrims of the future are and will be. What will they seek and need?

Guided Tours

We want to make our contribution to the transformation of Bílá Hora into a place of reconciliation across various denominations, beliefs and opinions. For Bílá Hora pilgrimage site is not famous for some miraculous healing as is the case of the majority of such places but it is known as a place of life-or-death fight. It is important for us to see the battle from a wider perspective and to convey this view of the battle, its symbolic value and reception in both our history and present days.

We offer guided tours both for individuals and groups in Czech and German (needs to be arranged in advance) or the possibility to see the premises of the pilgrimage site with your own guide or a guidebook in Czech or German.

We are open daily except Monday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
(You are invited to the prayer of vespers in the corner chapel of the Holy Trinity at 6 p.m.)

The church is open every Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(At 11 a.m. the Holy Mass is celebrated.)

The entrance fee is voluntary. We thank for all donations for renovation and maintenance of the premises!

If you want to arrange for a tour, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The parish

The pilgrimage site belongs to the spiritual administration of the Benedictine Archabbey of St Adalbert and St Margaret in Prague-Břevnov and is a part of its parish.
If you are interested in any church rites–marriage, baptism, funeral and so on, please contact Father Benedikt Kolaja OSB (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
The church with its cloister is particularly suitable for children attending a Holy Mass for they can move around the premises safely.
Religious lessons for children are provided as well (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Holy Mass:
Sunday 11 a.m.
Thursday 5 p.m.

Activities

In cooperation with the parish we organize lectures, concerts, ecumenical and neighbourhood meetings. For many years meetings with interesting people have taken place in the parish room with whom we discuss various historical, cultural and religious topics. We are open to people and forms that are inspired by the beauty of our Baroque premises to artistic projects. We take interest in the connection of the historical place with both classical and contemporary art. Everybody is welcome no matter whether he or she comes “by chance”, in a group or individually, for a short visit or to stay in our guest house.

ECUMENICAL ACTIVITIES

“Unity in necessary things; freedom in doubtful things; love in all things.” St. Augustin

Vespers

Grave

After we had settled down at Bílá Hora we began to actively establish contacts with various Christian denominations from which new friendships came into existence. Since 2014 ecumenical vespers have been held regularly on the anniversary of the battle, attended by representatives of the once rival denominations. Can that which used to divide us in the past unite us today?
In 2014 the grave inspired architect Norbert Schmidt and painter Patrik Hábl for the first modification of the place. The artistic intervention was accompanied by music composed by Michal Rataj. (The intervention consisted of 42 lithographic stones on which faces were painted in black (only after the intervention we have found out that in the grave there are remains of 42 men and 2 women).
In 2016 the grave was modified to the present form by Václav Cigler and Michal Motyčka. The minimalist form of the installation defined by the shape of a circle with its compacted soil evokes the place where tragic events took place once and now it is intended to provide space for light. It is humble and quiet and in its simplicity it emphasises the sense of completeness, of the mystery of life.

A video: artistic intervention over the grave of soldiers killed in the battle of 8 November 1620

Anniversary

The year 2020 was marked by the 400th anniversary of the battle at Bílá Hora (White Mountain) which presented to us an opportunity to understand the event, to visit places connected with it and discover beauty of the pilgrimage site.

We could spend a beautiful weekend with Santini in August, a neighbourhood weekend “Zažít Řepy jinak” and installed an exhibition in cooperation with the National Archives which you can visit in the cloister, i.e. outdoors, as a part of a walk or trip even in times of severe pandemic restrictions.

The concert scheduled for 8 November 2020 was postponed to 27 October 2021, the eve of the public holiday (anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia).

At the weekend of 7–8 November 2020 the pilgrimage site premises were open for an individual visit, prayer, meditation and lighting a “candle for healing” #candleforhealing (see FB).

The Cross of Reconciliation (see the photo in the header) was installed on Friday 30 October 2020 by the author himself, Fr. Abraham Fisher OSB, and his associates. It was unveiled ceremonially on the same day after the ecumenical vespers.

Photos of these events can be found in the GALLERY or on FB "Opatství Venio - klášter benediktinek na Bílé Hoře".

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.” (Ephesians 2,13–16, The New American Bible)