Bílá Voda U Javorníka: Pilgrimage Church, Museum and Routes

Historic Centre with Pilgrimage Church and Museum

Bílá Voda U Javorníka combines a distinctive spiritual history with paths through the landscape area of the Rychlebské Mountains. The Pilgrimage Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, together with the former Piarist College, has been the spiritual and historical centre of Bílá Voda for centuries. Its present form was created through the Baroque reconstruction of a smaller church commissioned by Baron Kryštof von Maltitz between 1602 and 1604.

The history of the Piarists is also closely linked to the town: Bílá Voda was the first Piarist foundation in all of Silesia. The Piarist seminary served as a venue for music concerts and theatrical performances. At the solemn consecration of the pilgrimage church in 1777, seminarians performed a play watched by around 4,000 people. During your stay, you therefore gain not only a place of religious significance but also insights into the cultural past of the town.

The Museum of Isolation, Internment and Integration traces the history of Bílá Voda: from the settlement's first written references as Wyssoká and Weissasser to its later repopulation. Another section of the museum documents the internment of nuns in Bílá Voda. This period began on 28 September 1950 with the arrival of the first transport as part of Action R, which was intended to dissolve women's religious communities. The Bílá Voda cemetery is the final resting place of around 700 nuns.

Routes between the Park, Border Ridge and Nature

If you would like to combine culture with exercise, marked cycle route 6044 leads from Bílá Voda via Růženec and Javorník through the Račí údolí valley, continuing to Uhelná and Vlčice and ending at Hraničky. The Stezka Slezskem reaches Bílá Voda over the border ridge of the Rychlebské Mountains and continues from there to Javorník and Vidnava. The two routes described offer different perspectives on the surrounding area: cycle route 6044 connects several towns along a 37 km route, while the Stezka Slezskem places Bílá Voda within a connection crossing the mountain ridge.

One starting point for the Bílá Voda–Borders route is the former château park of Bílá Voda, which was laid out in the second half of the 18th century. This former château park contains a more than 300-year-old yew tree, which is protected as a nationally significant tree. The route also leads to the former Kukačka limestone quarry. Its relatively small area is home to numerous plant species, including rare and endangered species. Above the route near Bílá Voda lie the Kraví Rocks, which are used by climbers.

Important Planning Information for Visiting the Museum

If you would like to visit the museum in the Piarist Grammar School and College with a guided tour, groups must register by telephone or email three weeks in advance. For further research into places in the same wider travel area, you can also find Uhelná, Ostružná, Hradec-Nová Ves, Vápenná, Rejvíz, Zlate Hory, Písečná and Česká Ves.

For the wider travel overview: Okres Jeseník.