Spa - Aperát

We bought the building of Aperát, a former spa, in 2008 from the municipality and other owners. It was a ruin destined for demolition. Since there are beautiful arches in the building, we decided to try to save the building. In 2011, again thanks to a subsidy from SZIF (the project was submitted through the LAG Podhůří Železných hor), we received a subsidy for static securing of the building. This way we managed the impossible: to save a dilapidated building. The arches were strengthened, new beams and a new roof were laid on the original masonry. Doors and windows were replaced, as well as the floor. At present, the lower level of the building serves as a warehouse and technical background for therapeutic and sheltered workshops. In 2020 a complete reconstruction of the attic was undertaken: new rooms were created to be used for workshops and as accommodation for long-term international volunteers.

… From the history of Modletín and the Modletín Spa…

The church was founded and built around 1769 by the then nobility, whose member Eva Rosina von Adlerin, who died in 1791, rests in a crypt in front of the main altar. The bricks for the construction of the church were burned in nearby Přemilov, from where, according to the entry in the parish book, they were transported to the construction site on the back of a camel.

Before the construction of the church in Modletín, there was only a small chapel dedicated to St. Anne. It stood above a well, in which there was a widely famous delicious water, which had not only an excellent and refreshing taste, but also healing effects. There was a rumor among the people that St. Anna had appeared at that place long ago.

The water from the miraculous well is said to have proved particularly useful in healing gout. And this feature was used in small spas, which were located in a building now called "aperát" (the name originated from the word aperát, ie a facility for burning alcohol), ie a small distillery, which was in Modletín after the demise of the spa. The healing water was led to the spa through a wooden pipe over the entire village square and the garden of the current rectory, then the spa house, where it was led to the needs of guests, by a branch led to the reservoir, the so-called fountain.

In order for the spa guests to be able to carry out their religious duties, a Capuchin from the Chrudim monastery, which served mass there throughout the summer, was present there on Sundays and public holidays while they were in the bath.

The legend of the healing power of the water of Modletín reached the court of the famous emperor and king, the father of the country, Charles IV, who suffered from gout and therefore went to the spa of Modletín for healing. In nearby Klokočov, there is an ancient massive linden tree on the square, under which, according to legend, Charles IV rested with his retinue when he went to Modletín.

There is also a record in the school commemorative book that the water from the miraculous well was sent to Prague by famous Czech historiographer František Palacký, Rieger's father-in-law, in bottles. The water was researched and appreciated by the university prof. Dr. František Hueppe and recognized it as equivalence with Gastynská water. Unfortunately, the well was neglected, and when the Modletín spas ceased to exist, the water from it was degraded by sewage, which had already entered it from the neighboring farm buildings.

transcribed from the magazine of American Czechs Hospodář, January 1, 1956

from the memories of the village cantor Dr. Hořejší