Svatý Antonínek
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Svatý Antonínek is an important regional Roman Catholic place of pilgrimage in south-eastern Moravia, Czech Republic, linked to the Baroque Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua built in the 17th century, and a source of veneration of the eponymous saint in the region ever since. It is situated on Saint Anthony's hill between the villages of Ostrožská Lhota and Blatnice pod Svatým Antonínkem, 14 kilometers south of Uherské Hradiště, on the boundary of the districts of Uherské Hradiště and Hodonín and also the Zlín and South Moravian regions. The chapel is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.
History[edit]
Construction began in 1668, initiated by prince Hartmann of Liechtenstein and supported by the Jesuits in nearby Uherské Hradiště. First pilgrimage took place on Saint Anthony's feast (13 June) in 1670. The octagonal rotunda was enlarged in years 1696–1697 with a nave.
Alleged miraculous healings linked to the discovery of a water spring near the chapel in 1748–1749 led to increased religious devotion.
In 1786, following reforms by emperor Joseph II that sought to limit some religious practices, the chapel was closed down and mostly dismantled. In 1815, following a successful petition to emperor Francis II, the village of Blatnice committed itself to its reconstruction and perpetual maintenance. Pilgrimages resumed on 16 June 1819, and continue to this day, despite damages to the chapel sustained during World War II and obstructions of religious activities by the Communists (1948–1989). A personage closely linked to the chapel is priest Antonín Šuránek (1902–1982).
Number of pilgrims has varied greatly throughout history. While year 1888 saw just between two and four thousand on a major holiday, attendance exceeded 100,000 pilgrims in the pilgrimage's most popular era in the 1930s.
Popularity[edit]
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The chapel, the pilgrimages to it, and the hill on which it stands have been target of interest by various famous people throughout the centuries.
Archaeologists such as Jindřich Wankel and Inocenc Ladislav Červinka explored the history of the hill, which is a promontory of the Vizovice Highlands, as early as in 1887.
Author Karel Dostál-Lutinov and composer Leoš Janáček visited the pilgrimage on Saint Anthony's hill in 1905 and collected folk songs there.
Political figures linked with the history of Czechoslovakia, such as Robert Seton-Watson, Jan Šrámek, Maurice Pellé, Alois Eliáš, or Emanuel Moravec, visited the pilgrimage site. During World War II, it saw both anti-Nazi protests and youth-oriented Nazi rallies with attendance in the tens of thousands.
Ethnological interest in the preserved folk traditions, songs and costumes of the pilgrims was shared by both scientists (such as museum founder František Kretz) and artists.
In 1893, painter Joža Uprka from nearby Kněždub found inspiration in the colorful dresses of the pilgrims and created one of his most famous paintings, Pouť u sv. Antonínka ("Pilgrimage at Saint Anthony's"), which earned him a Mention honorable and international reputation at the 1894 Salon exhibition in Paris. Many other painters depicted the chapel and the pilgrimage in the subsequent years.
Following the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the location started to draw attention of tourists and other people from the whole country, who showed interest in getting to know the Moravian Slovakia region's folklore through participation in the pilgrimage. When cars became more accessible, in 1939, a total of seven thousand of them occupied all the streets and roads in Blatnice below the hill. Connection by railroad was made easier by the new line joining Veselí nad Moravou with Nové Mesto nad Váhom, whose first section opened in 1927, just in time to carry passengers to the new station near Blatnice on the pilgrimage day of June 19.
In 1932, the site was made known to the general public through an operetta U svatého Antoníčka, composed by Jára Beneš, which was quickly followed by an even more successful comedy film of the same name by Svatopluk Innemann (1933) featuring Ljuba Hermanová.
Pilgrimages were broadcast by the newly established Czechoslovak Radio (founded in 1923). Czechoslovak Post issued occasional cancellation stamps for the pilgrimages in years 1937–1940.
Literature[edit]
- TEŤHAL, Vladimír. Svatý Antonínek. Blatnice pod Svatým Antonínkem: Římskokatolická farnost Blatnice pod Sv. Antonínkem, 2008. ISBN 9788025421376.
External links[edit]
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