Jablunkov Hospital

Jablunkov seemed a pretty but uninteresting little town close to the border with Poland and Slovakia. The town square, although lined with charming buildings, was only a few paces long and was disfigured by the main road, which ran through it. The rest of the town was a conglomeration of modern buildings in a variety of distasteful styles. The whole place doesn't even rate a mention in the guide book.

Then I came upon the story of the hospital, founded in 1856 by the local priest, Wawrzyniec Piontek, especially to care for the poor of the town. (The rich could head for the big city hospital in Ostrava and there were clinics and doctors in Trinec.) Even better, I discovered the original building, still standing beside the River Olza, now sadly derelict, but a monument to one man's humanity towards his fellow man.