Svatá Hora (the Holy Mountain) is the oldest and most important Marian place of pilgrimage in the Czech Republic. The chapel on Svatá Hora, originally a simple Early Renaissance building was built in the early 16th century. According to the tradition, Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice is the author of the local sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the Infant from the mid- 14th century. The sculpture was brought to Svatá Hora in the 16th century; soon after processions began to come to this place. In 1647 the Jesuits took over the administration of the place and initiated grand construction on Svatá Hora as a place of pilgrimage. The church was comp ...