The Čertovy hlavy ('The Devil Heads') are a pair of 9 metre high rock sculptures in the municipality of Želízy in the Central Bohemian Region of Czech Republic.
Čertovy hlavy were created by Václav Levý in 1841-1846. In terms of dimensions, it is a unique work in the Czech Republic. They are the second largest carved heads in the world, after the carvings of Mount Rushmore in the United States.
The sculptures have been damaged by time and weather. In 2011, the private owner had the surrounding pine forest cut down, allowing the heads to be seen from the I/9 road. Further sandstone reliefs can be found near the Čertovy hlavy, known as Harfenice ('Harpist') and Had ('Snake') reliefs.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.