Jeskyně Blanických rytířů

Useful Information

Location:	Kunštát (49.517383, 16.511064)
Open:	MAR Sat, Sun, Hol 9-12, 13-15. APR Tue-Fri 9-12, 13-15, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-12, 13-16:30. MAY to SEP Tue-Sun, Hol 9-12, 13-16:30. OCT Tue-Fri 9-12, 13-15, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-12, 13-16. NOV Sat, Sun, Hol 9-12, 13-15. [2023]
Fee:	Adults CZK 140, Children (5-15) CZK 70, Children (0-4) free, Students (15-26) CZK 100, Seniors (65+) CZK 100, Family (2+3) CZK 400. Photography CZK 25, Filming CZK 50. [2023]
Classification:	Grottoes
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=25 min.
Photography:	allowed with ticket, no tripod
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Jeskyně Blanických rytířů, Rudka, 67972 Kunštát, Tel: +420-739-510-772, Tel: +420-604-984-459. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

28-OCT-1928	statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk ceremoniously unveiled.
NOV-1928	construction of cave started.
JUL-1931	Rolínek died of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Description

Jeskyně Blanických rytířů (Cave of the Blanik Knights) is an artificial sandstone cave with sculptures of the Knights of Blanice inside a hill called Milenka. The cave and the sculptures were created by the upholsterer Stanislav Rolínek. In 1924, he was diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis, and he went to Pasek for about 5 months for treatment. As a result he stopped working and started carving sculptures into the sandstone around his hometown in Bořitov. He was a gifted self-taught sculptor who used non-traditional tools: a fire ax and half a shear for shearing sheep. In the forest of Chlum Hill he worked secretly, but was discovered by the gamekeeper, who denied him access to the forest. When the landowner Mensdorff-Poulli from Boskovice heard about this, he allowed him to continue his work. But now the people heard about him and started to visit his work. The butcher and former mayor of Kunštát František Burian was impressed by the sculptures. He had the idea to create something similar in Kunštát to attract visitors to the forgotten town.

He convinced Rolínek who came to Kunštát in 1928. His first sculpture was a 14 m statue of the first Czech president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. It was ceremoniously unveiled on 28-OCT-1928. The statue was unfortunately destroyed during World War II. Only the monumental shoes on the pedestal have survived.

But he had run out of rocks, and Burian had the idea to dig a cave. The cave was excavated by workers immediately after the statue was unveiled in November 1928. The second statue Rolínek created was the guardian of the cave, a huge lion. He had never seen a lion, so he used photographs.

Then he started with the equestrian statue of St. Wenceslas, followed by the 17 statues of Hussite warriors. The biggest knights statues are the guardians of the St. Wenceslas crown measuring over three meters.

Rolínek still had pulmonary tuberculosis, and in July 1931 he died as a result of this long-term illness. The statues in the Knight's Hall were completed by others according to his designs. Mayor Burian personally carved a children's cave with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

During World War II not only the huge statue in front was destroyed, but also some knights. Later, in 1962, the dwarves were destroyed. It seems the cave was expropriated during communism. In 1994, the cave was returned to František Burian's granddaughter Zdeněk Popelková. Numerous sculptures were restored and the cave reopened.