Church of Our Lady the Helper on Chlumek in Luže

The Church of Our Lady the Helper on Chlumek is a Baroque pilgrimage church perched on a basalt hill directly above the town of Luže, in the Chrudim district of the Pardubice region in eastern Bohemia. For more than three centuries it has ranked among the region's most important Marian shrines, drawing pilgrims both for its architecture and for the story of the miraculous image it was built to house.

Why was this pilgrimage site founded?

The shrine owes its existence to Countess Marie Maxmiliána Eva Terezie Hiserlová, who received a painting of Our Lady the Helper — regarded as miraculous — from her dying brother, František Eusebius. Around that image she chose to build a church on the hill above Luže, laying the foundation for a cult site that grew into one of eastern Bohemia's leading pilgrimage destinations.

When was it built, and in what style?

Construction ran from 1690 to 1696, squarely within the Baroque period, and that style still defines the building today. The church was laid out as a single-nave structure with side chapels and galleries, lit along the main nave in a basilica-like arrangement, with a narrower presbytery beyond it. Its façade is capped by a distinctive twin-tower front, visible from a distance above the trees covering the hillside.

What else belongs to the Chlumek complex besides the church itself?

The church is only part of a larger pilgrimage ensemble. A terraced courtyard climbs the slope beside it, lined with eight chapels, while a run of stairs ties the whole layout together from the foot of the hill up to the church itself. A perimeter wall with entrance gates encloses the site, and next to it stands a former Jesuit residence that once looked after the shrine and the pilgrims who came to it. This combination — church, chapels, stairways and supporting buildings — was a common pattern for Baroque pilgrimage sites across Central Europe.

How is the Chlumek complex protected today?

The church itself has been listed as a cultural monument since 1958, but in 2018 that protection was extended to the entire complex — the church, the chapel-lined courtyard, the stairs, the walled entrance and the former Jesuit residence — which was granted the status of national cultural monument, the highest level of heritage protection in the Czech Republic, reserved for sites of exceptional historical significance. Under a national programme for protecting architectural heritage, more than 17 million Czech korunas were spent on repair work at the site between 1995 and 2014.

Why visit Chlumek?

Beyond its religious and historical value, the hill also offers views over Luže and the surrounding Chrudim countryside. Walking the terraced courtyard past its eight chapels makes for a natural, gradually rising route to the top, and the church remains an active place of worship and a pilgrimage destination to this day.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the church located? On Chlumek hill above the town of Luže, in the Chrudim district of the Pardubice region in eastern Bohemia.

Who founded the church, and why? Countess Marie Maxmiliána Eva Terezie Hiserlová, after receiving a miraculous image of Our Lady the Helper from her dying brother, František Eusebius, and building a church for it.

When was the church built? Between 1690 and 1696, in the Baroque style.

What else is part of the pilgrimage complex? A terraced courtyard with eight chapels, a staircase, a walled entrance with gates, and a former Jesuit residence.

Is the complex a protected monument? Yes — the church has been a cultural monument since 1958, and since 2018 the entire complex has held the status of national cultural monument.