Situated at the foothills of the Kralický Sněžník Mountain, the town of Králíky was founded back in the l3th century. The population had been mostly German until 1946. Králíky is seated in a picturesque valley girded with the Orlické Hory (Eagle Mountains) and the massif of Kralický Sněžník, a nature reserve since 1991. The massif's centrepoint is Europe's water shed. Just below the mountain top (1,425m) the Morava River (the March) springs from the ground. The town's pride is the God's Mother Mountain (760 m) with the 1700 built pilgrimage church, with ambits and the Holy Stairs' Chapel from 1710. The mostly German pilgrimage place was established by Tobias Johann Becker, Bishop of Hradec Králové. The 1701 monastery on the church's back side is now home of the Virgin Mary's Franciscan Sisters. Facing the church is the Pilgrim's Home (restored in 1993) in which 50 beds are ready to provide shelter for pilgrims and other guests, along with chapel and restaurant. The home is administered by the priests of the Redemptorist Congregation. The access way to the main entrance of the church is straight and steep, about 1.5 km long and lined with lime trees and 8 baroque chapels built in 1704, now freshly restored. Pedestrian pilgrims use the baroque gate and the lime tree alley to get to the church, drivers can use the 5 km long winding road. The region-called Kladská Kotlina -is among Central Europe's cleanest.

The pilgrimage churh's inside

Aerial view of the pilgrimage church