Church of Our Lady of Sorrows

The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows rises in the small town of Sloup, in the northern part of the Moravian Karst, within the Blansko district of South Moravia. It ranks among the region's most important Baroque pilgrimage churches and remains a magnet for Marian pilgrimages, while also serving as a natural stop for anyone exploring the nearby limestone caves.

How did the church come to be built?

The story behind the sanctuary goes back to the mid-18th century and centers on a reported miraculous healing. According to local tradition, a miller's daughter from Sloup regained her health after praying before a wooden statue of Our Lady of Sorrows brought from the Minorite monastery in Brno. The statue itself, carved in Italy by an unknown artist around the mid-15th century, quickly gained a reputation for miracles and drew growing numbers of pilgrims to the site. To give the venerated figure a fitting home, the Roggendorf family, who owned the surrounding estates at the time, commissioned an entirely new church. Construction ran from 1751 to 1754, funded by a countess of the Roggendorf line, who was later buried in the church's crypt.

What is there to see, inside and out?

The design is attributed to the architect Isidor Marcello Canevale, while the interior decoration involved artists such as Karl Franz Sambach and Ondřej Schweigl, both known for work on other Baroque commissions across Moravia. The building's floor plan carries a symbolic twist: seen from above, it is shaped like a turtle, an animal linked in Marian tradition with protection and shelter. The western facade, topped by a triangular gable, is flanked by two towers roughly forty meters tall, visible above the rooftops of the town from quite a distance. Inside, visitors are drawn to the richly decorated main altar and to the venerated statue of Our Lady of Sorrows itself, still displayed at its center.

How do you get there?

Sloup sits in the northern part of the Moravian Karst, a protected landscape area famous for its cave systems. The church stands right in the center of town and is easy to spot from the main road. The most convenient approach is by car from Brno or Blansko; the area is also a popular destination for hikers and cyclists, who often combine a visit with a walk to the nearby Sloup-Šošůvka caves, only a short distance away on foot.

When is the best time to visit?

The parish has kept its own pilgrimage calendar since the church's founding. The largest Marian gatherings take place on the Friday before Palm Sunday and on the third Sunday of September, when pilgrims arrive from across the region and the town fills with visitors. Outside these two peaks, the church and its surroundings are considerably quieter, making it easier to take in the architecture at a relaxed pace.

Frequently asked questions

Can the church be visited independently? Yes, though it functions as an active parish church, so it is best to plan a visit outside Mass times and check the current schedule locally or on the parish website.

Where does the cult of this place come from? It centers on a 15th-century Italian wooden statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, brought from Brno, credited with a miraculous healing and still displayed on the main altar today.

Is it worth combining with other nearby attractions? Definitely — Sloup lies right next to the Sloup-Šošůvka caves and other Moravian Karst viewpoints, making it easy to build a full day of sightseeing around the visit.

What makes the church's architecture distinctive? Its unusual turtle-shaped floor plan and the two slender, roughly forty-meter towers on the western facade, both visible from many points around the surrounding countryside.