Legends

Fatal Prophecy

The Třebíč Castle is connected with the legend of the Italian astrologer Seni (Giovanni Zenna), a former astrologer of Albrecht of Wallenstein who, after his death, found refuge with Valdštejn s relatives in Třebíč. One evening, Seni witnessed a debate of a noble company about astrology, the credibility of which was particularly challenged by young noblemen, led by Karel of Vrbno, who eventually mockingly invited Seni to read from the stars what kind of death was expecting him. In vain, Seni tried to talk the angry young man out of his unwary wishes, and finally he uttered his prophecy: "Before three years pass, you are destined to die. One is strange about it, the cause of your death is a lion.” Seni finished his speech and the laughter interrupted the silence in the hall. Where on earth would a lion come from in Třebíč? No one took Seni s words seriously, but when the date of the predicted death was approaching, they advised the young man to be cautious, and in the end, Karel agreed to house arrest. In the castle room, the time was passing slowly, especially when they were about to arrange the hunt. Seni’s mood went even worse when he saw his girlfriend Kunhuta in an intimate conversation with a strange young man. The awakened jealousy and anger brought blood to the young nobleman s face. When he saw the Wallenstein coat of arms on the wall, he punch with all his might one of the lions painted on the wooden coat of arms. His fist broke through the coat of arms and got wounded by the nail in the wall. At first, he did not pay attention to his injury, but in the evening he was gripped by fever. When his dear Kunhuta visited him and introduced him to his brother, who had returned home from a long stay abroad, Karel recognized him as the man he had been envious of in jealousy. At that moment, however, Karel s body was already seized with blood poisoning. It spread rapidly throughout the body, and the end of Karel s life approached. Before the remaining three days of the third year passed, the young nobleman had died. Seni s prediction was fulfilled. Karel was really killed by a lion, though only painted.

Voluntary Sacrifice

The Jewish community in Třebíč was affected by plague in the mid-17th century. At that time an old man named Rafael lived here. Only he himself, ninety-year-old man, was alive from the whole large family. Old and young, educated and common, women and men, but mostly children, were dying. When, despite the rabbi’s prayers, the mortal disease was not subsiding, Raphael got confirmed that only a human sacrifice would comfort the Lord s wrath. So one day he went to the cemetery and dug a grave there for himself. He piled the stones around so they could fall. And indeed, once Raphael lay down in the pit, the stones slid down and buried the old man. As the legend tells, plague ceased and local Jews worshiped Raphael as a holy man and came to bow down before his grave, located in the upper part of the cemetery in a solitary corner. The tombstone is marked with number 8 on the back. A Hebrew inscription is carved on the front, which can be freely translated into English: “Rafael, a memorial to which we honor the grave of the holy man who sanctified his life. It has been 90 years and his merits may serve us and all future generations. This memorial was restored in 5534.” According to Jewish calendar, the year needs subtracting 4000 and adding 240, thus we get the year according to our calendar.

Why the Watchmen did not Blow the Horn towards the Cemetery

One watchman was still wondering why the horn blowing from the town tower was supposed in three directions only, and the fourth one was prohibited. Whenever he finished blowing, he stopped and stared at the cemetery. One night, he put the horn on his mouth and, despite the ban towards the cemetery, he sounded. As soon as the long tone subsided, a skeleton suddenly appeared in front of him slapping both sides of the brave man’s mouth, knocking the horn out of his mouth. Then the skeleton clapped his teeth and said cautiously, “Try again to disturb the eternal sleep of the dead and it will be your last hour!” As the skeleton appeared, so he disappeared. The unfortunate horn-blower took the skeleton s words to his heart, and he no longer thought of the horn blowing towards the cemetery, nor did his followers had the courage to try.

Petrified Old Woman

The legend is connected with the stone on the right side of the road from Třebíč to Pocoucov and Trnava. Once upon a time there was an old woman who was willing to help all people from diseases and other ailments. She never asked for money for healing, grateful patients in return gave her what they had: eggs, flour, butter, or milk. Once, a pilgrim she had let stay with her overnight left her a pouch of money. The old herbalist didn t even know about it first, noticing the pouch long after the grateful patient had left. And because she didn t know where to find the pilgrim, she kept the reward. And as she began to recalculate the money, she became completely addicted to the money magic. She had been obsessed since that day, asking her money for her healing tips and herbs. One day after it got dark, the old herbalist was visited by a young woman from the neighborhood whose child had fallen badly ill. The old woman was just about to go to the forest to collect curative herbs, so she rejected the pleading mother. The old woman knew the mother was poor and she would certainly not pay for the help. Begging, the young woman followed the herbalist to the forest. But when she understood that she would not get the help, she cursed the stubborn hag: “If only you turned in stone!” And that was what also happened. The old woman fell to her knees, and the once-kind woman became a hard stone.