Excursions and activities
Difficulty
Length of route
2.1 km
Time estimation
45 minutes
Elevation
106 m
Suitable for hiking
Suitable for cross-country skiing
Suitable for bicycle
Suitable for wheelchair
To the northeast of the centre of Volary, on the slopes of Mount Kamenáč, you will find the Stations of the Cross. From the Church of St. Catherine to the first stop of the Way of the Cross is about 1,500 m. The Way of the Cross has a total of 14 stops, 12 of which are niche chapels, and two other stops are represented by a cross and a rock with the Holy Sepulchre. The chapels were built in neo-Gothic style from diorite rock in the 1880s. From the first to the last stop you will walk a serpentine route of about 360 m with an elevation gain of about 35 m. From the 11th stop, the cross path leads up the slope on a stone staircase that is flanked by the wall of the rock gorge.
Two statues on pedestals, the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist, were placed at the top of the staircase in 1821. Both were commissioned by the wife of the former mayor of Volary, Františka Sitterová. As the statues were made of limestone, they could not withstand the weather and only the torsos of the original sculptures remain, which are stored in the local museum. In 2008, at least the original pedestals of the statues that remained on the site were restored. In 2015, new statues of the two saints were added to the pedestals.
The original decoration of the chapels consisted of colourful figural reliefs imported to Volary from Munich, but after World War II the pilgrimage site was no longer cared for and the reliefs were destroyed. They were replaced only after 2011, when the town of Volary chose paintings by artist Vladimíra Fridrichová Kunešová to decorate the chapels. Her 40 × 60 cm oil paintings on sheet metal were installed in the chapels in 2014.
Above the staircase, as the 12th stop of the Stations of the Cross, there is a stone cross, which was restored in 2008. Thanks to this, the cross has been given a top part and has been fitted with a statue of Jesus Christ. Another statue of Christ, which is located in the Holy Sepulchre, the last stop of the Volhynian Way of the Cross, and which dates back to 1901, has also been restored.
Route description
If you do not want to follow the shorter avenue of the Golden Trail, which leads past the cemetery, you can choose a few metres longer avenue, which leads from the former brewery. The two join at the niche chapel, about halfway to the 1st stop. At the end of the tree line you will find a resting place under the Stonehenge, where there is also an information board for the Stations of the Cross. If you bear left from the cross at the top of the stairs, you will reach the viewpoint below Kamenac after about 200 metres. Its summit (899 m above sea level) is only a few metres away, so from the viewpoint you can see not only Volary, but also the surrounding peaks of Šumava. The viewpoint and the Way of the Cross can also be reached by following the red trail from the centre of Volary.
Gallery of the trip
Trip map
