Skalka

A baroque pilgrimage complex above Mníšek pod Brdy — Dientzenhofer's chapel of St Mary Magdalene from 1693, a small monastery and a hermitage on a wooded ridge, with a refreshment cabin by the church.

Skalka is a small baroque pilgrimage complex strung along a wooded spur above Mníšek pod Brdy. The chapel of St Mary Magdalene was built in 1692–93 by Kryštof Dientzenhofer for Servác Ignác Engel, lord of the Mníšek estate, and modelled on the saint’s grotto chapel of La Sainte-Baume in Provence; the little monastery and the hermitage on the crest followed in 1694. Benedictines served here first, Franciscans from 1762 until the Second World War. Twentieth-century iron-ore mining under the hill cracked the buildings badly; the restored monastery reopened in 2001 and the complex now hosts exhibitions, concerts and pilgrimages. A timber refreshment cabin near the chapel serves walkers in season.