Via Sacra Radpilgerroute von Zittau nach Cunewalde

Zittau was elevated to the status of a town in 1255 by the Bohemian King Ottokar II and was particularly promoted as a bridgehead north of the border mountains. Thanks to beer exports and the cloth and linen trade, the town became considerably wealthy and was even able to compete with Leipzig in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the League of Six Towns, it was nicknamed "the rich". A hint of this still remains in the cityscape, even if the city's coffers no longer have much to offer. The idea of the Via Sacra was born here because of the two Lenten cloths, which are now famous far beyond Germany. The 8.20m high and 6.80m wide Lenten cloth from 1472 - unique in Germany and presented in the largest museum display case in the world - can be admired in the "Church of the Holy Cross" museum. The second cloth, which can only be called "small" in comparison with the larger one, is on display in the Franciscan Monastery Museum of Cultural History. The epitaph treasure on display in the monastery church is also unique.