The Moravian Karst is not an ethnographic region in the way that Slovácko is, but it has plenty of traditions of its own. There are two major pilgrimage sites: Křtiny, one of the oldest Marian pilgrimage sites in Moravia, and Sloup, where thousands of pilgrims gather on Palm Friday (the Friday before Palm Sunday). Costumed village festivals (hody) are still held in places such as Křtiny and Rudice. In autumn, the fishponds at Jedovnice are drained and harvested. And there is much that you will not find elsewhere in Czechia: a region that lived off iron ore, villages where mother-of-pearl buttons were made, and legends born of what people feared underground.
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The soil on the uplands above the karst has always been poor. People had to earn a living by other means than farming, and they shared their landscape with the world underground. That is reflected in the local customs, too.
Pilgrimages
Křtiny
Křtiny is one of the oldest Marian pilgrimage sites in Moravia. According to legend, a statue of the Virgin Mary was brought to Křtiny in 1210 from nearby Bukovinka, and another tale says that Saints Cyril and Methodius baptised people here. The present-day Baroque church of the Name of the Virgin Mary was built to a design by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel between 1718 and 1750.
The pilgrimage season begins after the feast of the Ascension. The main pilgrimage takes place at Whitsun, the Coronation Pilgrimage falls at the turn of August and September to mark the anniversary of the papal coronation of the miraculous statue, and the All Souls’ Pilgrimage is held in October. During the main pilgrimages and at All Souls’ the ossuary beneath the church is also open to visitors. Current dates can be found at pmkrtiny.cz. You can read more about the village in our article Křtiny.
Sloup
The pilgrimage church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sloup stands close to the Sloup-Šošůvka Caves (Sloupsko-šošůvské jeskyně). The tradition dates back to 1728, when a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows came to the village. It was first placed in the Sloup mill, where, according to the story, the miller’s daughter was healed in front of it. The church was then built between 1751 and 1754 on the initiative of the Counts of Rogendorf of Rájec, and Countess Karolina of Rogendorf is buried in the crypt.
The main pilgrimage is held on Palm Friday, the Friday before Palm Sunday, and draws thousands of people from across the diocese. The second major pilgrimage takes place in autumn, around the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in mid-September. The pilgrim confraternity founded in the 18th century was dissolved and was not revived until 2003.
People used to walk to Sloup from the surrounding villages. In Senetářov, pilgrims shortened the way by taking a field and forest track via Ostrov, and the whole procession took about an hour. More in the article Local place names and legends of Senetářov.
Village festivals (hody)
Costumed village festivals, at which the local young people ask the mayor for permission to hold the celebrations, are still kept up around the karst, for example in Křtiny. The festival hosts invite people around the town, the festival rights are read out beneath the maypole, and the young people dance the Moravian beseda.
In Rudice, the St Anthony’s costumed festival has been held in June for more than ten years. The organisers want villages in the area to visit one another in traditional costume, as is the custom in southern Moravia.
The dates of the festivals change every year, so check the events calendars of the individual villages.
Pond harvests
Autumn in Jedovnice belongs to the pond harvests. The first record of the harvest of the Olšovec pond dates from 1900, and mentions of fishing in Jedovnice go back to 1741. The Olšovec harvest is still a two-day event that draws visitors from across the region. Everything you need to know is in our article Pond harvests near the Moravian Karst 2026.
How people made a living here
- Iron. The karst grew rich not on its fields but on iron ore. Ironworkers were smelting iron here as early as the 8th century, and ore was mined until 1893. The Blansko ironworks of the Salm family became famous for their art castings. The whole story is in our article The Iron Karst.
- Mother-of-pearl buttons. In Senetářov and the surrounding area, mother-of-pearl buttons were made for a long time, until cheaper plastic pushed them out. They are commemorated by the local Museum of Traditional Housing and Mother-of-Pearl Work.
- Vepřovice. On the uplands, people built their cottages from hand-made unfired bricks known as vepřovice.
Legends from underground and beyond
A landscape of chasms and sinkholes gave people good reason to tell tall tales.
- Macocha is said to have taken its name from a legend about a stepmother (macecha) who threw her stepson into the abyss. See The Macocha Abyss.
- Čertův hrádek (“Devil’s Castle”) near Blansko, where a devil is said to have lived and carried off young women, and the Čertův most (“Devil’s Bridge”) in Suchý žleb, which comes with a legend of buried treasure. See Devils in the Moravian Karst.
- The legend of Kojálovský, who moved boundary stones and, as punishment, is said to roam the Kojál hill for ever. See Local place names and legends of Senetářov.
Legends of the karst were already being collected by Hugo Václav Sáňka, a teacher from Rudice, and a book he contributed to, Speleologický folklor Moravského krasu (Speleological Folklore of the Moravian Karst), was published posthumously in 1947. See Hugo Václav Sáňka.
Moravian Switzerland
In the 19th century the region was known not as the Moravian Karst but as Moravian Switzerland. Romantic travellers came for the crags and gorges, and the most admired sights were the Macocha Abyss and the Devil’s Bridge. The name Moravian Karst did not take hold until the early 20th century, thanks to Karel Absolon. In the Blansko Region Museum (Muzeum Blanenska), this era has its own exhibition, Pictures from Moravian Switzerland.
FAQ
When is the pilgrimage in Sloup? The main pilgrimage is on Palm Friday, the Friday before Palm Sunday. The second major pilgrimage is in September, around the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
When is the pilgrimage in Křtiny? The main pilgrimage is at Whitsun. Others take place at the turn of August and September (the Coronation Pilgrimage) and in October (the All Souls’ Pilgrimage).
Are there costumed village festivals in the Moravian Karst? Yes, for example in Křtiny and Rudice. The dates change every year.
What was traditionally made in the Moravian Karst? Mainly iron, along with mother-of-pearl buttons in Senetářov and the surrounding area and art castings in Blansko.
Information verified as of 10. 10. 2026. Sources: Katalog brněnského biskupství: Sloup, kostel Panny Marie Bolestné; Biskupství brněnské: Ve Sloupu uctily tisíce poutníků Pannu Marii Bolestnou; Moravský kras: Poutní místa v Moravském krasu a okolí; Poutní místa ČR: Křtiny; Brněnský deník: Kroj na hody; Vilémovice: Antonínské hody Rudice; Zukal, A.: Historie Senetářova; brochure of the DSO Moravský kras.
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