A conciliation cross, also known as a roadside cross, is a

stone cross Stone crosses (german: Steinkreuze) in Central Europe are usually bulky Christian monuments, some high and wide, that were almost always hewn from a single block of stone, usually granite, sandstone, limestone or basalt. They are amongst the ...

, which was set up in a place where a murder or accident had happened.

Purpose

In medieval times, they were sometimes handmade by the murderer as a symbol of conciliation with the family of his victim. Conciliation crosses were also put where many accidents, disasters or epidemics had happened. These

memorial cross A memorial cross (sometimes called an intending cross) is a cross-shaped memorial to commemorate a special event or an incident, typically where one or more people died. It may also be a simple form of headstone to commemorate the dead. File I ...

es are mostly in central and western Europe.

Occurrence in Czechia

In the Czech Republic, an archive of national instances is in the town of

Aš Aš (; german: Asch) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dolní Paseky, Doubrava (Aš), Doubrava, Horní Paseky, Kopaniny (Aš), Kopaniny, ...

alongside some of these; the number of documented Czech crosses is more than 2300. Image:Smírčí kříž u silnice z Růžové do Nové Olešky.jpg, Conciliation cross close to

Růžová (Děčín District) Růžová (german: Rosendorf) is a municipality and village in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. The folk architecture in the village of Kamenická Stráň is well preserved and is ...

, Czech Republic. Image:Kleinrettbach-Grabsleber-Kreuz-2.jpg, Conciliation cross close to Kleinrettbach, Germany. Image:Стерженский.jpg, Conciliation cross close to Tver, Russia. Image:Krzyż pokutny kijowice.JPG, Conciliation cross close to

Kijowice Kijowice (german: Vogelgesang) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bierutów, within Oleśnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany. It lies approximately west of Bierut ...

, Poland.

Purpose

Occurrence in Czechia

See also