Křtiny is a market town in

Blansko District Blansko District ( cs, okres Blansko) is one of seven districts ('' okres'') within South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Blansko. List of municipalities Adamov - Bedřichov - Benešov - Blansko - Borotín - B ...

in the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region ( cs, Jihomoravský kraj; , ; sk, Juhomoravský kraj) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia (an exception is Jobova Lhota which trad ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 800 inhabitants.

Geography

Křtiny is located about southeast of Blansko and northeast of

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

. It lies in the

Drahany Highlands Drahany is a market town in Prostějov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Drahany lies approximately west of Prostějov, south-west of Olomouc, and east of Prague. Notable people *Wilhelm Kosch ...

, on the boundary of the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area. The highest point is the Proklest hill at above sea level. The stream of Křtinský potok flows through the municipality. Its tributary, a brook named Zemanův žleb, supplies several small fishponds.

History

The first written mention of Křtiny is in a deed of

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

from 1237, when the village was owned by a women's monastery in Zábrdovice (today part of Brno). The monastery established a branch here, but it was burned down in 1423, during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. After the war, the Zábrdovice Monastery was forced to pledge Křtiny, but in the second half of the 15th century the monastery regained the village and owned it until the dissolution of the monastery in 1784. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, Křtiny was looted and badly damaged several times. From 1830 to 1854, Křtiny was property of the Dietrichstein family.

Demographics

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights

Křtiny is known for an significant European

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

site administered by the Premonstratensians. In 1718, a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

pilgrim complex was created by the original project of

Jan Santini Aichel Jan Blažej Santini Aichel (3 February 1677 – 7 December 1723) was a Czech architect of Italian descent, whose major works represent the unique Baroque Gothic style - the special combination of the Baroque and Gothic styles. Biograp ...

, but was modified during construction and was never fully completed. It comprises the Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary with a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

statue of the Virgin Mary and an ossuary and the adjacent Křtiny Manor from the 19th century, formerly the Provost residence. The church is protected as a national cultural monument. In the municipality is the karst show cave Výpustek, formerly a secret army cave shelter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krtiny Market towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Blansko District