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The village of Destna near Jindrichuv Hradec is first mentioned in historical sources dating from the second half of the 13th century. Findings from sporadic archaeological digs in and around the village, however, allow us to date the first settlement to the 8th or 9th century. The name of the village has two possible etymological roots. The first possibility is the Old Slavic word “desceny”, meaning pole wood. The second possible interpretation may be inspired by the climate in which the local people used to live - “destiva krajina”, or rainy country. Originally, Destna was owned by the Slavnik family. During the reign of Premyslides, the demesne underwent several changes of owner. Destna enjoyed its heyday under the reign of King Charles IV. During the Hussite wars, it became the target of attacks by Taborite troops and was heavily damaged. The village flourished again under the Rozmberks, who owned the demesne from 1364 until 1595.
In 1599 Destna began to attract pilgrims and spa guests from a wide area. A spring of curative water was discovered that year at the edge of town and named after St John the Baptist. Bohuslav Balbin described the miraculous event in his book Miscellance:
“In 1599, on the day of St Catherine, the widow Urbanczova, who suffered from headaches and who could not be helped by the physicians, was on her way back from the village of Svetcu to the town of Destna whence she hailed. The sun had still to go down when she spied an old man on his knees, robed in clerical vestments, his age and majesty commanding respect. Next to him was a little boy, some three years of age, dressed in white similarly to the old man and holding a brightly glowing torch in each of his hands. The woman was not afraid by this sight but found it agreeable and pleasing, and so, inspired by this devotion, she too kneeled down. As she prayed it seemed as though the heavens threatened with storm and there was lightning. Thrice the lightning struck. Each time the old man bowed down his head and touched the ground. Immediately thereafter, darkness descended and the woman saw that the vision of both the old man and the little boy had disappeared. She came unflinchingly to the spot and there noticed three springs of very clear water which neither she nor others passing by this place had ever seen before. The woman, driven by her pain, took the water into her hands and, invoking God's name, washed her eyes and the whole of her head. She felt all the pain disappear immediately as if cured by some very effective medicine and was restored to health.” |
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