Antonin Wagner, Skalní kaple / Rock chapel

          

his phota and the next one by Ivo Weiss 
as on Google Streetview

The entrance of the chapel pictured above, located near Svojkov, a small village with some 300 inhabitants in the Lužické Mountains of North Bohemia, Czech Republic, has been carved into a sandstone rock formation.

Life and works

The carving project was undertaken in 1836 by Antonin Wagner, a local amateur sculptor, about whose life virtually nothing is known.

In the 1840s the chapel was often visited by the last Czech king, Ferdinand V, which will have contributed to the chapel becoming a true place of pilgrimage.

side view

The rock chapel is located in the Modlivý důl, which means "Prayer Valley", an area that attracts many visitors due to its forests and beautiful sandstone cliffs.

In earlier centuries, the valley was associated with all sorts of dark myths, but in 1704, a local brewery worker attached a statue of the Virgin Mary to a tree at the site where the chapel now stands. 

Rumors of miracles spread, and the place became a place of pilgrimage, visited by processions. 

Around 1770 a wooden chapel was built, commissioned by Countess Alžběta Kinská, which was later replaced by a chapel carved into the rock. In 1830 the entrance was created by Antonin Wagner.

The chapel, which now has the status of a protected heritage, can be reached on foot from a parking lot in nearby Svojkov.

historical postcard (circa 1914) on Wikipedia 

Documentation

* Article on Wikipedia

* Article (2016) in newspaper Idnes about the renovation of the path to the chapel

* Artcle on the website Hodkovice nod Mohelkou with some photos

Antonin Wagner

Entrance of the Rock Chapel

Village of Svojkov, region Liberec, North Bohemia, Czech Republic

Google Streetview