Břežany: Discover the Landscape and History

The Chapel of St. Anne and a stone column shrine add tangible landmarks to the history of the village. This brings the landscape and cultural heritage into focus together, rather than reducing Břežany to a single attraction.

Landscape and Village Center

Slavník Hill and the group of ponds define the immediate surroundings of Břežany. They are clearly distinct features: the hill is a raised landform, while the ponds form a landscape of their own. This gives the destination a scenic focus alongside its historic village center. If you choose places based on their surroundings, these two features offer concrete points of reference. They relate to the area around the village, while the archaeological classification applies to the village center.

Historical Context

The first written mention of Břežany dates from 1319. This provides a written historical reference point, but is not automatically a founding date. A further historical perspective comes from the classification of the medieval and early modern village center as an important archaeological site. The two facts describe different aspects: a specific written mention and the archaeological importance of a historic part of the village. This allows travelers interested in history to distinguish between the village’s history and the significance of its center.

Chapel of St. Anne and Linden Tree

The Chapel of St. Anne was built in 1760 under the patronage of the Horažďovice estate. It stands in a small grove above Břežany, by a spring whose water is believed to have healing properties. The year of construction and patronage provide the historical context; the grove, spring and location describe its connection to the landscape. The chapel can thus be understood both in terms of its construction and its setting.

A remarkable small-leaved linden tree provides shade for the chapel. Its trunk has a circumference of 430 cm, and the tree is approximately 24 m tall. These measurements make the linden a distinct natural feature at the chapel site. The height is explicitly an approximation, while the trunk circumference is given as 430 cm. The tree adds a tangible connection to the landscape to the description of the historic building.

Stone Column Shrine

A stone column shrine stands on the southern side of the road from Břežany to Malý Bor. It is about 0.5 km southeast of the edge of Břežany, approximately 3 m tall, and made of coarse-grained granite. The date 1738 shown on the shrine is indistinct. Its material, form and dimensions describe the monument; its location is specified by the side of the road, the compass direction and the village edge as a reference point. Unlike the chapel above Břežany, the road and distance from the village edge are the main points of reference here.

The dates 1319, 1760 and 1738 serve different purposes: 1319 denotes the first written mention of Břežany, 1760 is the year the chapel was built, and 1738 is an indistinct date on the shrine. They are not equivalent construction dates. This distinction keeps the written history of the village, the building history and the indistinctly legible feature of the monument separate.

Discover more destinations: Rejštejn, Soběšice, Nalžovské Hory, Svata Katerina, Strašín, Mokrosuky, Dlouhá Ves U Susice, Chudenín

See the overview of the wider travel region: Okres Klatovy.