The complex of several brick sacral buildings, built in three construction phases, occupied a dominant position, visible from afar. First, in the first third of the 9th century, a church was built on the plan of a Greek cross. In the direction of the west, in the 1960s and 1970s, years of the same age, a hall church with a semicircular end was added. It is sometimes interpreted as a chapel with two side entrances, and its origin is most likely linked to the newly arrived builders of the Byzantine mission. Apparently, in the third quarter of the 9th century, a burial chamber and a chapel were added to the northern perimeter wall of the church with a cruciform layout, and the creation of a brick partition in the western church also belongs to the same phase. In this context, the possibility arises that the western church became a place of teaching for catechumens, while the chapel with the burial chamber was used to store the burial of a prominent Moravian (the grave of Prince Svatopluk?). The richest of the local graves was the grave of the “Princess of Sadia”, located very close to the church. A baptismal font (baptistery) was also built to the west of the entire complex.

Outside, but also inside the church buildings, 87 burials from the 9th century were discovered, often in coffins and with rich donations. The cemetery area with the church was separated on the north side by two walls from a group of twelve log buildings, where craftsmen and their families lived and worked in the workshops. There was also a well. On the opposite side stood an extensive 36 m long and 6 m wide hall structure of log construction – a meeting place and perhaps also a place for priests to teach. A paved road ran between the precincts. Considering the overall situation on the Heights of St. Methodius (Sadská víšín), as well as the finds originating from here – a lead cross with a Greek liturgical inscription (ZOE-IESUS-CHRISTOS-FOS-NIKA), writing instruments – styles, etc. – the location is often associated with the place of work of representatives of the Byzantine mission.

The original Great Moravian burial ground from the 9th and early 10th centuries was followed by Mladohradište burials from the 11th–12th centuries. century. Almost 900 people found their final resting place here. 70 coins also come from the Mladohradište cemetery. Most of them were denarii of Olomouc princes Ota I. Šlíčný, Svatopluk, Ota II. Černý and Soběslav from the second half of the 11th to the first third of the 12th century, which fulfilled the function of the so-called gifts to Charon the ferryman on the way of the deceased to the underworld. The chapel, which, based on a written source from 1247, is often attributed to Marian consecration, was definitively abandoned together with the cemetery during the 13th century.

In archaeological sources, this location is known as Uherské Hradiště – Sady “Špitálky”. The first archaeological discovery was made here already in the middle of the 19th century, the Moravské noviny reported on it on October 10, 1849: “… on the front hill, when you go from Hradiště to Kunovice, in a delightful landscape… a farmer from Derfle was picking stones from his field to build a cottage. But no sooner had he begun to dig than he came upon a neat wall, and after breaking through it he found a skeleton with an earthen pot. He tore out the stone and buried everything else.” The site became of interest to archaeologists in the post-war period. A fundamental turning point then occurred in 1958, deep plowing disturbed the archaeological situation and not only human bones but also fragments of mortar, roofing and worked stones came to the surface. On the basis of these facts, the following year, Vilém Hrubý started extensive archaeological research that lasted until 1964.

Source: www.slovackemuzeum.cz