Hradiště

Hradiště

In the protected landscape area of the Iron Mountains, near Nasavrky, there lies a small village of Hradiště (465 metres, 40 inhabitants). The traces of the Celtic fenced settlement (oppidum) from the first century before Christ are still visible.

In the period of the counter-Reformation, the Protestants secretly met in Hradiště and its neighbourhood. These Protestants (who formed a majority in this region) chose the Reformed confession after the declaration of the Toleration Patent. In 1783 they founded a congregation community and decided to build a house of prayer here. They obtained land on the outskirts of the village and according to the chronicler “It was probably the least neat land it was possible to find.” The first house of prayer, which was built in 1787, was of a wooden construction, which began to deteriorate very quickly. Construction of a new, stone house of prayer, began in 1842, had yet to meet the toleration regulations. The congregation finally started to use it in 1847. It is a basic structure without a tower, simple inside and outside. In this form, after the necessary repairs, it remains until now. A rectory was built and also rebuilt later. Despite the difficulties, a school was built in the Hradiště congregation in the second half of the 19th century. It is used until now; in the nineties there was a general reconstruction and the building is used not only by members of the congregation but it is also frequently visited by children and teenagers during summer camps. An interesting feature is the wooden belfry next to the house of prayer. It was built in 2009 and it contains a bell which was donated by the Dutch Protestants.

In 1915, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Jan Hus (the father of the Czech Reformation) his memorial was built in Hradiště.

The preaching station in Klokočov belongs to the local congregation and in 1934 a simple church with a small turret was built there. A Divine service takes place here in summer.

Thousand years old lime tree, also called Klokočovská or Royal, is a precious natural monument in Klokočov. It is 19 metres high and its circumference is 888 centimetres. It used to be a border tree on the medieval, so called “Libice trail”. According to the legend, Charles IV supposedly rested under this tree on his way from the Lichnice castle.