82 years old Vlasta Junkova - an inhabitant of Kunvald - is taking a short rest everytime she is passing the Limetree of Brethren. When in 1547 Jaroslav of Pernstejn forbade the activity of Unity of Bretheren, a lot of protestant families were forced to leave their motherland. As the legend says, upon leaving the Brethren used three small lime branches to dig out bits of the home soil for the memory. They planted these little branches afterwards. The huge limetree has grown from then. Its heights is about 40 m and its circumferenc is about 7 m in 1 m hight. The Unitas Fratrum (Brüdergemeine/Moravian Church) was founded in Kunvald in 1457, when followers of the martyred Jan Hus (John Huss) found refuge on the estate of King George of Poděbrady. Kunvald is a village in 5 km north of Žamberk in the Ústí nad Orlicí District, Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has over 1,000 inhabitants.
{}