The Chapel on Dříš and the Miraculous Spring
The hamlet of Dříš arose as an offshoot of Deštné sometime in the early 18th century. The people living here made their living from crafts and agriculture, although given the altitude and the terrain relief it was very poor farming.
The chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary was of great importance to the local community. The pilgrimage chapel was built and consecrated in 1809 thanks to Andreas Liebich and Antonín Baumgartner. However, the site chosen for the construction had already long been associated with a miraculous healing. Miraculous water sprang from a small spring beneath a spruce tree on which an image of the Virgin Mary was placed. Above this miraculous spring, a wooden chapel was built. It had a timber-frame structure and was clad with boards. Over the decades, the chapel became an important local place of pilgrimage. Exaggerated rumors about wealth stored directly in the chapel were probably the cause of its being plundered on the night of 2–3 August 1840.
The ever-growing popularity of this place led to the construction of a Way of the Cross, and so on 22 July 1870, on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, it was solemnly consecrated. The stonework was carried out by the sculptor I. Hartmann from Olešnice, and the total costs rose to 882 guilders 95 kreuzers.
In 1893 the Way of the Cross was modified. The original carved stone relief decoration was replaced by cast-iron plaques, and a total of 28 stone steps were laid. In the following year, all the images of the individual stations were gilded.
The chapel acquired a respectable property from pilgrims’ donations. In 1840 it reached the amount of 1280 guilders (convention coinage) and continued to grow. The money was originally deposited with the manorial office in Rychnov nad Kněžnou, and from 1869 this estate was handed over to the municipality in Deštné. By a purchase contract of 7 September 1881, the municipality of Deštné bought for 20 guilders from the spouses Antonín and Karolína Schröter the plot of land on which the chapel stood. In 1891 the chapel interior was supplemented with two altar statues—St. Anne and the Virgin Mary, and St. Joachim—works by the sculptor J. Runggaldier from Gröden in Tyrol. As the first photographs show, at that time hundreds of pilgrims were coming to the chapel.
This beautiful tradition was interrupted by two world wars. The first deprived the chapel of its bell; the second then of its faithful.
In the interwar period, the pilgrimage grounds were still maintained, and nearby the famous Panorama Hut was established—a place from which the spirit of the Czech Tourist Club spread into the Orlické Mountains.
The Second World War and its impact on the original inhabitants of the Orlické Mountains also meant many years of neglect for this chapel. The chapel fell into disrepair, the Way of the Cross was demolished, and of the original cast-iron relief plaques only one remained. And so the historic site entered new times already in a considerably damaged state. In 1990 the chapel underwent a complete reconstruction, and in 2005–2006 the Way of the Cross as well. Today this place is once again being cared for.
Deštné is also one of the places to wander through Kačenka’s Fairy-Tale Realm, and here you will learn the story of Princess Kačenka, ruler of the local mountains.
