Cemetery in Jičín

The Cemetery in Jičín is the main municipal burial ground of this East Bohemian town, established in the first half of the 17th century as part of the sweeping urban redesign carried out under Albrecht von Wallenstein. It lies in the Nové Město (New Town) district on Ruská Street, next to the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, a name that also became the cemetery's traditional local designation.

Why was the cemetery moved to this location?

The cemetery's origin is tied directly to Wallenstein's ambitious plan to rebuild Jičín in the early 17th century, when he was one of the most powerful noblemen in Central Europe. As part of reshaping the town, older burial grounds within the historic core were closed — both sanitary considerations and Wallenstein's vision of a more representative town centre made continued burials there impractical. Instead, alongside the construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity in the Nové Město district, work began in 1629 on a new, larger cemetery outside the immediate centre.

What role did the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows play?

From the start, the cemetery developed in close association with a place of worship — first the Church of the Holy Trinity, and over time the nearby Church of Our Lady of Sorrows on Ruská Street gained particular significance. It is from this dedication that the cemetery took the traditional name still used locally today. Its layout, with a chapel and rows of graves arranged in orderly sections, follows the pattern typical of Central European municipal cemeteries founded in the Baroque era and later expanded through the 19th century.

How does it differ from Jičín's Jewish cemetery?

It is worth distinguishing this municipal cemetery from the separate Jewish cemetery located in another part of town, in the Sedličky district. That burial ground, with numerous Baroque and Classicist tombstones, dates back to the mid-17th century, when a protective letter allowed the Jewish community to settle in Jičín and acquire land for its own cemetery. Both sites reflect the multi-confessional character of the town in the early modern period, but each has its own distinct history, location, and burial tradition.

What should visitors know before going?

The cemetery on Ruská Street remains an active municipal burial ground, so visitors are expected to keep a quiet, respectful demeanour out of consideration for people visiting graves of relatives. It is not a conventional sightseeing attraction with guided tours, but rather a meaningful point on the map of historic Jičín — of particular interest to those following traces of the Wallenstein era, whose vision for rebuilding the town shaped its present urban layout, including the relocation of burial grounds away from the old centre.

Frequently asked questions

When was the cemetery in Jičín founded? Its origins date to 1629, when, alongside the construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nové Město, a new burial ground began to take shape as part of the town's redesign under Albrecht von Wallenstein.

Why was the cemetery relocated outside the town centre? Earlier burial grounds within Jičín's historic core were closed as part of Wallenstein's urban reorganisation, which aimed to give the town centre a more representative character.

Where exactly is the cemetery located? In the Nové Město district, on Ruská Street, next to the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, from which its traditional name derives.

Is this the same cemetery as Jičín's Jewish burial ground? No — the Jewish cemetery is located in a different part of town, in the Sedličky district, and has a separate history tied to Jewish settlement in Jičín from the mid-17th century onward.