Church of Saints Simon and Jude

Legend has it that the church, and all of Arnoštovice, owe their existence to the first Archbishop of Prague, Arnošt of Pardubice. He was attacked by robbers in the deep local forests. In the end he managed to get away, and a local hermit helped him and saved his life. And so the Archbishop allegedly had a church built at the site of the whole event, and the settlement that formed around it was called Arnoštovice in his honour.

Although the story of Arnošt of Pardubice had a happy ending, it really is only a legend. The church was built even before Arnošt of Pardubice became Archbishop, during the reign of Ottokar II of Bohemia in the mid-13th century. This is evidenced, for example, by the early Gothic portal in its façade, which is also a very valuable stonework.

It should also be mentioned that the church‘s silhouette looked slightly different at the time. The prismatic tower with a helmet and decorative dormers, which today is its dominant feature, was only added in the 18th and 19th centuries.