The Church of St. Jan form Nepomuck

This is the story of the Štěchovice Church. In approx. 1840 Matěj Rada, a farmer from the Davle-Sázava, bought a pub called "Na Saláši" in Štěchovice.  Shortly after demolishing the old building a new pub was erected on the grounds. History says that Matej Rada was a tall and a very strong man. He often demonstrated his strength and managed what four others were unable to do. He was also a hard worker. In addition to farming and work as a publican, he also traded in firewood. He travelled up the river where he bought the trees. His rafts were then floated down the river to Prague, where they were sold. In addition, he also supplied firewood to local pot makers. This made him a lot of money, which he in turn invested locally, thus contributing to local development.

According to old archives, Matej had five daughters but no sons. He was a good shooter and a dedicated poacher, which was an offence that was severely punished at the time. After being caught on numerous occasions, he was slapped by a fine, which cost him a small fortune.

In the winter of 1853, while traveling on a fully loaded raft, Matej Rada fell into the ice cold water and subsequently suffered from a severe bout of pneumonia. On  16th March 1853 Matej wrote his Last Will in which he estimated his credits and future interests to total 20,089 Gold and 37 Silver coins.  He wished that this sum be used to build a church at Stechovice. He also demanded that the building be completed by the end of 1854. Matej  nominated Jan Zelenka the local Mayor, Jan Houda, a teacher, and Josef Svoboda, a master potmaker, as the Executors of his Will. He then gave each of them a key to the treasure chest where all of the money and future proceedings should be collected and kept. The church project was entrusted to a very competent architect, Kamil Hilbert (who incidentally also proposed the finishing plans for, and was the final builder of St Vitus Cathedral at Pragues' Hradcany). The architectual splendor of the Stěchovicky Church  is truly a unique Masterpiece. Many publications name it as a great example of a new secesse  style. The work on the building work finally started on 24th April 1911, and it  was completed in 1913. Its silhouette fits well together with the Vltava River country side.

GPS: Loc:49°51'0.51"N, 14°24'35.31"E

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