Ždárská Zelená hora needs better facilities for pilgrims and tourists

Jihlava - The sought-after Church of St. John of Nepomuk on Green Mountain in Žďár nad Sázavou needs better facilities for visitors and guides. Placing such a building near a UNESCO-listed site is not simple. The city is looking for solutions with the parish and conservationists. According to a ČTK survey, religious monuments are facing similar problems elsewhere in the Vysočina region, including another significant pilgrimage site, Křemešník near Pelhřimov.

The area on Green Mountain, a work of architect Jan Blažej Santini Aichel, sees around 30,000 visitors each year. Žďár's mayor Zdeněk Navrátil (Žďár-Live City) recently told reporters that discussions have already taken place between the city, the parish, the region, and conservationists.

"We agreed that the city of Žďár nad Sázavou will prepare a draft text of a memorandum of cooperation, aimed at establishing visitor facilities for this UNESCO monument," he stated. "It probably won't be anything big. Our main concern is to have toilets, facilities for guides, and the possibility of some small souvenir purchases," said Priest Vladimír Záleský from the local parish that manages the monument, to ČTK.

The new building should not violate either the monument or the views of it. A possible location would likely be towards the ceremony hall at the cemetery on the slope below the church, where the land already belongs to the city. The parish will focus on extensive repairs of the pilgrimage site in the next five years, which is subsidized by the union. However, according to the priest, subsidies cannot be drawn for buildings outside the monument.

A website dedicated to religious tourism lists four dozen pilgrimage sites in the Vysočina region. Among them is Křemešník near Pelhřimov, which continues a pilgrimage tradition lasting several centuries. Regular tours have been held there for the fourth year, organized by the Křemešník Association. During the summer, people can visit the area with the baroque Church of the Holy Trinity daily, from April to October on weekends. The number of tourists is slowly increasing.

According to Vít Škoda from the association, over 2,000 people have participated in tours annually, with a similar number coming for the pilgrimage. This protected area on a natural hill with a height of 765 meters is also facing issues with a lack of facilities. "Guides are hiding under the arcades or in the chapel; it's cold there," Škoda noted. Due to humidity, souvenir publications and postcards are curling in the church.

For now, people find refuge in a nearby hotel. A mobile toilet is located at the bottom of the hill near the parking lot, while only a dry toilet is available at the top by the church. Plans to create sanitary facilities and accommodation suitable for children's camps, as well as a hall for various events and spiritual exercises, are accompanied by complicated negotiations with conservationists, according to Škoda. Securing the necessary funds will not be easy either.