Stara Boleslav

Duke Vaclav - Wenceslas of the carol - was killed at the church door here in 935 by men of his brother Boleslav, and the killing made him the country's patron saint and this the oldest pilgrimage destination in Bohemia. The basilica of St Wenceslas was built over the site from the eleventh century, a large three-aisled Romanesque church with a crypt of massive columns, and the spot of the murder is marked. Nearby stands the church of the Assumption, built in the seventeenth century for the Palladium of the Land of Bohemia, a small metal relief of the Virgin which was regarded as the country's protective image and which is still kept here. The national pilgrimage on 28 September, St Wenceslas Day and now a public holiday, brings large crowds. The town is joined across the Elbe to Brandys nad Labem, which has a Renaissance chateau.

History

Around 900, under Duke Spytihněv I, a gord was founded here, and in the first third of the 10th century, when Duke Boleslaus I lived here, its moats were replaced by stone walls and it was named Boleslav after him; the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian already stood, and at its gate Boleslaus murdered his brother Duke Wenceslaus on 28 September 935 (or 929). Wenceslaus was proclaimed a saint and became the patron of the Czech nation, and Stará Boleslav became the oldest pilgrimage site in Bohemia. After 1039 Duke Bretislav I built a Romanesque basilica of St Wenceslaus on the site of the murder and in 1052 founded beside it the Collegiate Chapter of Saints Cosmas and Damian, the oldest in Bohemia. Charles IV and Wenceslaus IV often came to hunt and had new fortifications built, and the castle was burned in the Hussite Wars. Brandýs across the Elbe was founded in the early 14th century around a small castle, rebuilt at the end of the 15th century; both towns were almost destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, and in the second half of the 17th century Stará Boleslav regained its fame through the cult of the Madonna. Manufactories and factories followed from the mid-18th century, and in 1960 the two towns were joined, keeping both their names (Wikipedia, Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav).

What's there

• The murder site of 935 - marked at the church that made Wenceslas a saint.
• A Romanesque crypt - massive columns under the basilica.
• The Palladium of Bohemia - the country's protective image, kept in the Assumption church.
• The 28 September pilgrimage - the national feast day, drawing large crowds.

When to go

April to October; 28 September for the pilgrimage. Half a day.

Things to know

Churches close to visitors during services, which are frequent. The crypt and treasury keep limited hours. The pilgrimage day fills the town and closes roads. The town itself is otherwise ordinary.

Nearby

Brandys nad Labem and its chateau are across the river.