Route description:
To reach the starting point of the Stations of the Cross, leave the square and follow the green route. After the footbridge over the Otava, turn left and follow the flow of the river. The first Station of the Cross is situated shortly past the last building on the J Seitz Embankment. From there follow the path up through the forest to the Chapel of the Guardian Angel, Andelícek.
Sušice Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross in Sušice takes you from the first station by the Otava all the way to Stráž Hill, also called Andelícek (552 metres above sea level) where just below the top you will find the last, fourteenth station. At the top of the hill there is the Chapel of the Guardian Angel. This has long been a popular place of pilgrimage in the Šumava (the Sušice fair takes place on the first Sunday in September). The spot offers superb views of the town. These Stations of the Cross are unique in terms of their location and how they were made. The individual wrought iron stations were very sensitively incorporated into the terrain, placed onto rocks and boulders lining the forest track.
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Stráž Peak used to be a lookout and guard post.
There is a Baroque chapel of the Guardian Angel, commonly referred to as Andelícek, that was built as a pilgrimage chapel by the Capuchins in 1682 – 83. In 1735 cloisters with four corner chapels, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St John of Nepomuk, St Florian and St Mary Magdalene, were added to the chapel. When looking south, you can see the town as if on the palm of your hand.
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL LEGEND
Here are several legends connected with this site above Sušice.
One of them tells of a little boy who was gathering strawberries in the woods and by accident trod on a snake. The snake hissed and wound itself around the boy‘s leg. The boy was petrified but then he saw an angel standing next to him. The angel smiled at the boy and bent towards him. The snake dropped to the ground and disappeared. The boy‘s parents and other religious families commissioned a small chapel to be built and had a picture of the Guardian Angel painted on the wall.
