Újezd Svatého Kríze: Church, History and Nature

A specific starting point for exploring Újezd Svatého Kříže is the Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross: the original vaulting and fragments of wall paintings have been preserved in the presbytery. For visitors who want to understand historical details through more than just dates, this provides an illustrative introduction directly at the building.

Culture

The church itself is a High Gothic building that was remodeled mainly in the Classicist style and again at the end of the 19th century. The first written references to its existence date from 1352.

Next to the church stands an early Baroque rectory from the second half of the 17th century. The cemetery adjoins the Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, and it contains numerous gravestones of the area's former German inhabitants.

The church, rectory and cemetery offer different ways of interpreting history: architecture, preserved furnishings and personal remembrance stand side by side at this site. You can consider these aspects individually without having to combine them into a single narrative. Particularly for a visit involving different interests, the clear separation between architectural history and a place of remembrance offers calm orientation.

History

The former château was blown up in 1978 after being devastated by a unit of the Border Guard. It was surrounded by a park.

In the 1860s, Josef, Quido and Amálie Mánes were frequent guests at the château and produced numerous drawings there.

The history of the château can be understood as both a historical trace and an artistic context. The former status of the site remains important: the subject is a former château, not a building that has survived to the present day. This perspective supplements the church-related evidence with another chapter of local history without conflating the two areas.

Nature

Újezd Svatého Kříže lies in the Český les Protected Landscape Area and also in the Český les–Domažlice Nature Park. The mountains Železný vrch, Reichenstein, Schillerberg and Gradelhöhe are located in the surrounding area.

The Kocovy kameny are also located nearby, rock formations with inscriptions carved into the stone by hunting parties; they lie below the 862 m-high Velký Zvon.

The information about nature connects different levels of observation: protected areas describe the landscape setting, while mountain names and rock formations identify individual points of orientation. This leaves room for different ideas for a day out without prescribing a particular order.

Cycling

The 31 km-long Cycle Route 2281 passes through Újezd Svatého Kříže and connects Nemanice with Bělá nad Radbuzou. Its length and two endpoints provide a clear framework for planning your own route.

Alongside the cultural and historical attractions, the route has its own distinct focus. If you want to combine different interests, you can first distinguish between an activity-oriented route, individual historical features and landscape names. This makes it possible to compare these focal points when planning personally, without establishing a fixed itinerary.

More local pages: Draženov, Díly, Holysov, Pařezov, Štichov, Mutěnín, Všepadly, Úboč

To the higher-level travel overview: Domažlice District.