sv. Jan Nepomucký

The statue of St. John of Nepomuk stands on a small rocky knoll in Tetčice, close to the village's railway station. It's the most recognizable piece of religious folk art in the village and one of the few landmarks that have shaped the local landscape for generations, visible both from the road and from trains passing through Tetčice.

How old is the statue?

There's no surviving foundation document or parish record that pins down an exact year of creation. Its age can only be estimated indirectly, through old forestry maps. A map from 1764 already shows a forest tract named "Za sv. Jánem" ("Behind St. John") — meaning the statue must have already been standing there long enough to give its name to the surrounding land. The statue's Baroque style also points to an origin in the 18th century or earlier, rather than a later 19th-century wave of devotional statues.

Why St. John of Nepomuk specifically?

The cult of St. John of Nepomuk, a priest and martyr associated with Prague, spread across Bohemia and Moravia especially intensively during the 18th century, following his canonization in 1729. Villages and towns across the region put up statues of him in large numbers, most often near bridges, roads, and river crossings, since he was venerated as a protector against floods and water-related dangers, as well as a guardian of good reputation and the secrecy of confession. Placing the statue on a rise beside the road in Tetčice fits the same pattern: visible to travelers and meant to watch over the surrounding area.

What happened to it over the years?

The statue's history hasn't always been kind. Old photographs show that at some point local residents took to painting it themselves, likely with good intentions to freshen its appearance, but the result was a coating of paint containing asphalt particles applied directly onto the stone. That kind of well-meaning upkeep did more harm than good over time, since a sealed, non-breathable layer can trap moisture and accelerate the decay of the stone underneath.

Proper restoration work finally took place in 1985. The layers of asphalt-laced paint were removed and the original stone surface was cleaned, restoring the statue to an appearance much closer to its condition before the repeated repaintings.

What's worth seeing on site?

The setting itself, a small rocky rise near the railway station, makes it easy to combine a stop here with a visit to Tetčice during a train journey through the area around Brno. Though modest in size, the statue is a good example of typical Baroque folk piety in Moravia, and of how local communities cared for their religious monuments over the centuries, sometimes with mixed results.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the statue located? On a small rocky knoll in Tetčice, near the village's railway station.

How old is the statue? Its exact date isn't recorded, but a mention of the place "Za sv. Jánem" on a 1764 map shows it already stood there in the 18th century, likely earlier.

Why was the statue restored in 1985? Because it had previously been coated with paint containing asphalt, which had to be removed to clean and protect the original stone.

Is it worth a special trip? It's a small, local monument, best visited alongside another stop in the Tetčice area or a train trip through the region.