Mutěnín: Churches, Cemetery and Cycle Route 2281

Mutěnín combines sacred architectural history with a Jewish cemetery, a cycle route and a geologically significant quarry. If you are looking for a hotel in Mutěnín, these different themes can shape the focus of your trip: you can put historic buildings, the history of the Jewish cemetery, cycling or geology at the centre of your visit. The sacred sites can be distinguished by their construction dates and the reasons they were built; the cycle route and quarry offer two other perspectives on the town.

Church of Saint Bartholomew

The Baroque Church of Saint Bartholomew was built in 1707 on the site of an older church. The year refers to the construction of the present church building; its predecessor existed earlier. The 32-metre-high tower is topped by a weather vane in the shape of a rooster. In the floor of the church, which is paved with stone slabs, there is an entrance to the former crypt of the Wiedersperger family. The construction date, tower design and former family crypt offer different historical points of interest at the church.

Jewish Cemetery and Other Sacred Sites

The Jewish cemetery was established on Ovčí vrch in 1642 and carefully restored. It preserves 162 tombstones or fragments; the oldest legible tombstones date from the mid-18th century. These details refer to different aspects: 1642 is the date the cemetery was established, while the dating of the oldest legible stones points to the mid-18th century. The figure of 162 also includes fragments. The cemetery adds an independent Jewish heritage site in Mutěnín to the history of church architecture.

For the other sacred sites, the years refer to different events. The Chapel of Saint Sebastian was built in 1852 as the Wiedersperger family crypt, on the site of an earlier wooden chapel. The Chapel of Mary, Queen of Heaven, stands on the road to Ostrov; it was built in 1887 and reconstructed in 1992. The statue of Our Lady of Sorrows was erected in 1720 and returned to its original location in 2016 as part of a renovation. This makes it possible to distinguish construction, reconstruction and relocation as separate chapters in the town’s history.

Cycle Route and Geological Site

Cycle Route 2281 is 31 kilometres long and passes through Drahotín, Mutěnín and Hostouň. This length refers to the entire route, not just the section in Mutěnín. Check the current route before setting out on your ride.

The Mutěnínský lom offers a geological focus. The disused quarry lies in the quartz diorite of the Mutěnín Pluton and is an important reference locality for the Domažlice Crystalline Complex. It is located on the road to Starý Kramolín, beyond the pond in a field. While the churches, chapels and cemetery explore sacred and cultural-historical themes, the quarry focuses on the rock and its geological classification. Geology and cycling thus complement the history of architecture and the cemetery with two distinct perspectives for planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Pocinovice, Postřekov, Všeruby U Kdyně, Kdyne, Tlumačov, Blížejov, Semněvice, Draženov.

For the regional travel overview: Domažlice District.