Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist
Gothic and Baroque Gothic church near Kutná Hora, UNESCO listed.
The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist is a Gothic and Baroque Gothic church located northeast of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List alongside the Church of St. Barbara and other monuments in Kutná Hora. The church is considered one of the most important Czech Gothic buildings from the era of the last Přemyslids and an early example of the Baroque Gothic style associated with architect Johann Blasius Santini-Aichel.
Quick Facts
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History
The church began as a Gothic structure around 1300, ranking among the first High Gothic buildings in the Kingdom of Bohemia and the first there to mimic French Gothic cathedrals. It stood on the site of an older church and belonged to the Sedlec Abbey, the oldest Cistercian abbey in the Czech lands, founded in 1142. The Hussites burned the abbey in 1421, and the church lay in ruins for two centuries. In 1700, Abbot Jindřich Snopek ordered its rebuilding, starting with architect Pavel Ignác Bayer. After three years, Johann Santini-Aichel, who had already worked for the Cistercians at Zbraslav, took over and finished the work in his distinctive Baroque Gothic style. The reconstruction was praised for its vaulting, facade, and antechamber adorned with statues by Matěj Václav Jäckel. The church was consecrated in 1708. Though rebuilt in the early 1700s, the eastern section—including side chapels, choir, and transept—kept its original exterior look. The most recent restoration happened in 2001.
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