Wayside Shrine – Former Execution Cross in Jáchymov
The wayside shrine in Jáchymov originally stood on the top of Gallows Hill, where the town’s execution site was located, traditionally placed outside the built-up area. At the end of the 18th century it was moved to the lower part of the town near the manorial mill (Herrnmühle), where it stood by a small bridge over the Jáchymov stream. During the construction of the imperial road from Ostrov to Jáchymov, it was subsequently relocated to the left side of the new road. It was moved again in the second half of the 20th century during the construction of the present-day road to Jáchymov, when the shrine was placed at its current location in front of the building of the former mint. According to tradition, it was probably originally an execution cross, that is, a cross before which those condemned to death prayed for the last time before the execution, which corresponds to its original position near the former execution site.
The shrine consists of a granite Tuscan column set on a granite base. At the top there is a sandstone chapel in the form of a prismatic tabernacle with a tented roof crowned by a cross, a typical feature of Baroque small-scale sacred architecture from the first half of the 18th century. The front side of the chapel bears a scene of the Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and Saint John, that is, a Calvary. The left side shows a relief of the Holy Family depicting the Flight into Egypt, the right side features the Virgin Mary with the Child (Madonna), and the rear side carries a relief of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. On the front face of the column base the date 1731 is carved, and above it the Christ monogram IHS, confirming the monument’s origin in the High Baroque period.
