Hostýn in the Kroměříž region, near Bystřice pod Hostýnem, is the most visited Marian pilgrimage site in Moravia.
The Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is dominant and visible for a wide area. Among the monuments in the area, Dušan Jurkovič's Way of the Cross attracts attention.
There are actually two Stations of the Cross at Hostýn. The older one, from the first years of the 20th century, does not have a high artistic value and was much criticized at the time of its creation. On the other hand, the work of Slovak architect Dušan Jurkovič was considered an ornament of the Holy Host from the beginning.
Jurkovič was asked for cooperation by Matice svatohostýnská. It was in 1904, and at that time Jurkovič had already drawn up a plan for the modification of the basilica, the lookout tower, and in other proposals he included the construction of a new way of the cross, a new shelter for shops, and in general he wanted to modify the entire area of the Hostýn. His grandiose plans were halted by the First World War, but the proposal for a new Way of the Cross was unanimously approved and Jurkovič was also entrusted with managing construction work.
When at the end of the 19th century the Stations of the Cross located on the walls of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in St. Hostýn was no longer enough for the number of praying pilgrims, there was talk that an outdoor Stations of the Cross should also be built. One that would crown the slopes of St. Hostýn and where a procession of pilgrims much larger than before could pray. Work on the new Stations of the Cross began in 1900. However, the simple classicist chapels with paintings by the Bystřice painter Mr. Žůrek did not garner the kind of response that the local parish had dreamed of.
Translated by Google •
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