Post on 21-Feb-2016
description
transcript
1
VV
UUnneessccoo ssiitteess iinn tthhee CCzzeecchh RReeppuubblliicc
2
Gardens and Castle at Krom
Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford
across the River Morava, at the foot of the
Chriby mountain range which dominates the
central part of Moravia. The gardens and castle
of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and
well-preserved example of a European
Baroque princely residence and its gardens.
The Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž are an
exceptionally complete and well-preserved example
of a princely residence and its associated landscape
of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble, and
in particular the pleasure garden, played a
significant role in the development of Baroque
garden and palace design in central Europe
Kroměříž did not achieve the status of a fortified
until the mid-13th century, when a Gothic fort
was constructed, and the town prospered in the
succeeding centuries. In 1497 Stanislav Thurzo
became Bishop of Olomouc and he set about
reconstructing and modernizing his castle at
Kroměříž. At first this work was carried out using
the late Gothic style of the period, but
Renaissance elements began to filter in as the
work progressed. Bishop Thurzo also established
a garden, comprising orchard, kitchen garden and
flower garden, which was praised by King
Vladislav II when he visited Kroměříž in 1509.
3
The history of Kromeríz began with the
establishment of a settlement in the floodplain
of the Morava river in the 9th century AD
during the Greater Moravian Period. By the
12th century, when it belonged to the
Bishopric of Olomouc, the original fortified
site had disappeared. It did not achieve the
status of a fortified town again until the mid-
13th century, when a Gothic fort was
constructed. The town prospered in the
succeeding centuries, becoming the centre of
the organization of vassals of the episcopal
domains.
Once the garden was finished Tencalla's attention
turned to the design and construction of a
magnificent episcopal castle and residence. This
was to be his masterpiece, in the tradition of the
north Italian Baroque school of Genoa and Turin.
Nonetheless, it respected its Gothic predecessor,
elements of which were blended into the new
complex. Meanwhile, Bishop Karel was furnishing
the interiors, creating a picture gallery that
contained many masterpieces.
The castle was affected by the fire that swept
through the town in March 1752. Bishop Leopold
Bedrich Eghk oversaw the restoration, bringing in
artists and craftsmen to carry out the work, notably
the Viennese painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch and
the Moravian artists Josef Stern.
The see was raised to an archbishopric in 1777
and the first archbishop, Colloredo-Waldsee, was
responsible for the restyling of the Castle Garden
in accordance with the romantic approach of the
late 18th century. The Pleasure Garden, however,
preserved its Baroque geometrical layout. The
work on the Castle Garden continued well into
the 19th century, with the construction of arcades,
bridges, and even a model farmstead. Much of
this was carried out under the supervision of the
architect Antonín Arche between 1830 and 1845.
4
Historic Centre of Český Krumlov
Situated on the banks of the Vltava river, the
town was built around a 13th-century castle
with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque
elements. It is an outstanding example of a
small central European medieval town whose
architectural heritage has remained intact
thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than
five centuries.
Český Krumlov is located on an ancient east-west
communication route at a crossing of the Vltava
River. The earliest documentary record of 1253
refers to the existence there of a castle belonging to
a member of the ruling Vitkovici family of south
Bohemia. The core of the Castle (Hrádek) dates
from the 13th century. Settlement developed to the
east (Latràn) and also on the opposite bank of the
river round a central square. This multi-nodal urban
development is a characteristic of medieval town
development, especially in northern and central
Europe.
It was the seat of the influential Rožmberk family
for 300 years from the mid-14th century. The
Gothic Castle was reconstructed in Renaissance
style, with the involvement of leading artists of
the period. The wealth and importance of the
town is reflected in the high quality of many of
the burgher houses, since the presence of the seat
of government led to Český Krumlov becoming
an important craft and trade centre. There was
also considerable ecclesiastical development,
illustrated by the major 15th century church of St
Vitus and monasteries of various preaching and
itinerant Orders. The town later passed to the
equally influential Schwarzenberg family, and it
retained its importance well into the 19th century.
5
There are two main historic areas - the Latràn
area below the Castle and the town proper on
the opposite bank, in the meander of the Vltava
River. The town has a regular street layout,
typical of the planned towns of the Middle
Ages, with streets radiating out from the
central square and a circular intra-rampart
road.
The Castle contains elements from the Gothic,
High Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles.
It is dominated by the Gothic Hradek with its
round tower: this was subsequently converted
into a Baroque chateau with the addition of a
garden, the Bellaire summer palace, a winter
riding school, and a unique Baroque theatre of
1766.
Both Latràn and the town proper contain
undisturbed ensembles of burgher houses from
High Gothic onwards. They are notable for their
facades, internal layouts, and decorative detail,
especially carved wooden Renaissance ceilings.
The Church of St Vitus, dating from the early
15th century, anticipates High Gothic in its
reticulated vaulting and is significant in the
European context. Other important historic
elements are the Renaissance Jesuit College and
Baroque seminary, the Town Hall (created by
combining several burgher houses and
embellishing them with a Renaissance facade),
the remains of the fortifications, especially the
Budĕjovická Gate (a Renaissance structure,
modelled on Italian originals), and the
Renaissance armoury in Latrán.
6
Historic Centre of Prague
Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the
Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New
Town speak of the great architectural and
cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the
Middle Ages. The many magnificent
monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus
Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous
churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th
century under the Holy Roman Emperor,
Charles IV.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe
in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava
River, its townscape of burger houses and palaces
punctuated by towers, and its individual buildings.
The Historic Centre represents a supreme
manifestation of Medieval urbanism (the New
Town of Emperor Charles IV built as the New
Jerusalem). The Prague architectural works of the
Gothic Period (14th and 15th centuries), of the
High Baroque of the 1st half of the 18th century
and of the rising modernism after the year 1900,
influenced the development of Central Europe,
perhaps even all European architecture. Prague
represents one of the most prominent world
centres of creative life in the field of urbanism
and architecture across generations, human
mentality and beliefs.
7
Prague belongs to the group of historic cities
which have preserved the structure of their
development until the present times. Within the
core of Prague, successive stages of growth
and changes have respected the original grand-
scale urban structure of the Early Middle Ages.
This structure was essentially and greatly
enlarged with urban activities in the High
Gothic period with more additions during the
High Baroque period and in the 19th century. It
has been saved from any large-scale urban
renewal or massive demolitions and thus
preserves its overall configuration, pattern and
spatial composition.
In the course of the 1100 years of its existence,
Prague’s development can be documented in the
architectural expression of many historical periods
and their styles. The city is rich in outstanding
monuments from all periods of its history. Of
particular importance are Prague Castle, the
Cathedral of St Vitus, Hradćany Square in front of
the Castle, the Valdgtejn Palace on the left bank of
the river, the Gothic Charles Bridge, the
Romanesque Rotunda of the Holy Rood, the Gothic
arcaded houses round the Old Town Square, the
High Gothic Minorite Church of St James in the
Stark Mĕsto, the late 19th century buildings and
town plan of the Nave Mĕsto.
As early as the Middle Ages, Prague became one
of the leading cultural centres of Christian
Europe. The Prague University, founded in 1348,
is one of the earliest in Europe. The milieu of the
University in the last quarter of the 14th century
and the first years of the 15th century contributed
among other things to the formation of ideas of
the Hussite Movement which represented in fact
the first steps of the European Reformation. As a
metropolis of culture, Prague is connected with
prominent names in art, science and politics, such
as Charles IV, Petr Parléř, Jan Hus, Johannes
Kepler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz
Kafka, Antonín Dvořák, Albert Einstein, Edvard
Beneš (co-founder of the League of Nations) and
Václav Havel.
8
Historic Centre of Telč
The houses in Telc, which stands on a hilltop,
were originally built of wood. After a fire in
the late 14th century, the town was rebuilt in
stone, surrounded by walls and further
strengthened by a network of artificial ponds.
The town's Gothic castle was reconstructed in
High Gothic style in the late 15th century.
The town of Telt, located near the south-western
border between Moravia and Bohemia, is in a
region that was thickly forested until the
13th century. The origins of the settlement are
unclear: there was anearly medieval settlement at
Star/e M&to to the SE of the present town,
but there is no mention of Tel8 in documentary
records before 1333-5,when reference is made to
the existence there of an important castle
(and presumably also a church and settlement). The
town itself was probably founded in the mid 14th
century.
It developed on a hilltop, round a market square
in the form of an elongated triangle. The town
was surrounded by stone walls, further
strengthened by a most of the houses were
wooden, but they were reconstructed network of
ponds. Until a fire in 1386 in stone. The parish
church of St Jacob, built in 1360-72, also had to
be rebuilt. The Gothic castle was reconstructed in
High Gothic style in the later 15th century. The
second half of the 16th century was a period of
great prosperity under Zacharias of Hradec, who
began work on the Renaissance castle.
He also rebuilt the market place in the same style
following another devastating fire. The resulting
town is an outstanding example of
Renaissance town planning and architecture.
9
Baroque elements were introduced by the
Jesuits, who built a college (1651-65) and the
Church of the Name of Jesus (1666-67). At the
same time Baroque gables were added to the
facades of some of the houses In the market
place; Rococo and classical elements also
followed in later remodel lings.
The Industrial Revolution of the early 19th
century saw considerable cultural awakening in
the region and increased prosperity.
Nevertheless, the town of Tel: retained its
traditional character.
The town covers 9 ha and contains 85 designated
historical monuments. Its centre is the Renaissance
chateau, which retains substantial evidence
of its Gothic precursor. The Golden Hall to the
north of the castle complex is notable for its fine
gilded ceiling of 1561. which shows
considerable Italian influence. The latest phase of
reconstruction was under the charge of Baldassar
Maggi of Arogno, and dates to the late 16th
century.
The houses in the market place, although
embellished with facades from various periods,
are basically Renaissance and conform to a
standard plan. The parish Church of St Jacob has
a twin-a&led layout dating from the
early 14th century: a Renaissance choir was
added in 1638 and the Gothic tower was crowned
with a Baroque dome in 1687.
10
Holašovice Historical Village Reservation
Holašovice is an exceptionally complete and
well-preserved example of a traditional central
European village. It has a large number of
outstanding 18th- and 19th-century vernacular
buildings in a style known as 'South Bohemian
folk Baroque', and preserves a ground plan
dating from the Middle Ages.
Holasovice is of special significance in that it
represents the fusion of two vernacular building
traditions to create an exceptional and enduring
style, known as South Bohemian Folk Baroque.
Criterion iv: The exceptional completeness and
excellent preservation of Holasovice and its
buildings make it an outstanding example of
traditional rural settlement in central Europe.
Archaeological investigation has shown that this
area was settled by humankind as early as the 2nd
millennium BC, in the Neolithic period. It was
settled by Slavonic peoples in the 9th and 10th
centuries AD. It came under Premyslid rule at the
end of the 10th century, but Holasovice was not
founded until the period of largescale
colonization of the border regions of Bohemia in
the first half of the 13th century. The first written
record is in a 1292 document of Wenceslas II,
who gave the village, along with several others,
to the Cistercian monastery at Vyssí Brod, which
retained possession until 1848.
11
Until the beginning of the 16th century the area
was settled by Czechs, but the plague that
ravaged Bohemia in 1521 left only two
inhabitants alive. The Cistercians brought in
settlers from other possessions of the Order in
Bavaria and Austria: all the family names
listed in a monastic record of 1524-30 were
German. There followed a period of prosperity
that came to an end with the Thirty Years' War
(1618-48), but the village quickly recovered.
The numbers of farmsteads remained steady at
seventeen from the early 16th century onwards, and
the village did not begin to grow until the 20th
century. The ethnic makeup remained
predominantly German up to the creation of the
Czechoslovak Republic in 1918: in 1895 there were
157 inhabitants of German origin and only 19 of
Czech origin. By the time the ethnic Germans were
expelled at the end of World War II Czechs
remained in a minority.
The Definitive Cadaster of 1827 reveals that all
the farmsteads (with the exception of the barns)
in "Holschowitz" were built of masonry, not
timber-framed, as was the case in most of the
villages of Bohemia at that time. This tradition of
masonry building for domestic structures is a
characteristic of South Bohemia, no doubt
brought in from Austria and Germany.
Between 1840 and 1880 there was considerable
rebuilding in the villages of North Bohemia. This
process was later in South Bohemia, and the style
adopted, known as "Folk Baroque," is
characteristic of this region.
12
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc
This memorial column, erected in the early
years of the 18th century, is the most
outstanding example of a type of monument
specific to central Europe. In the characteristic
regional style known as Olomouc Baroque and
rising to a height of 35 m, it is decorated with
many fine religious sculptures, the work of the
distinguished Moravian artist Ondrej Zahner.
Criterion i The Olomouc Holy Trinity Column is
one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee
of central European Baroque artistic expression.
Criterion iv The Holy Trinity Column constituted a
unique material demonstration of religious faith in
central Europe during the Baroque period, and the
Olomouc example represents its most outstanding
expression.
Following the Swedish occupation of this largely
medieval city at the end of the Thirty Years' War
(1648-50), four fifths of Olomouc lay in ruins and
more than 90% of its inhabitants had fled.
Although it lost its status as the capital of
Moravia, it remained an episcopal see and this
fact, coupled with the indomitable self-
confidence of its citizens, ensured its
regeneration.
13
In the post-war reconstruction the street pattern
of the medieval town was respected. However,
it took on a new appearance: over the
following century many impressive public and
private buildings were constructed in a local
variant of the prevailing style, which became
known as "Olomouc Baroque." The most
characteristic expression of this style was a
group of monuments (columns and fountains),
of which the Holy Trinity Column is the
crowning glory.
"... I shall raise a column so high and splendid it
shall not have an equal in any other town": these
were the words used by Václav Render, Olomouc
master stonemason, to describe his project for
building a religious column, which was submitted
to the City Council on 29 October 1715. The
project was approved on 13 January 1716 and work
started in the spring of 1717, Render financing and
carrying out most of it himself. In 1733, the year of
Render's death, the column had reached the height
of a single-storey building, with a chapel inside and
a central core clad in stone, together with intricate
stone-masonry detailing. In this first stage, in the
1720s, the first part of the sculptural decoration was
carried out by the Olomouc sculptor Filip Sattler.
In his will Render bequeathed almost all his
considerable fortune to the city for the completion
of the work. The remaining sculptural work was
carried out in 1745-52 by the distinguished
Moravian sculptor Ondrej Zahner (1709-52). In
the early 1750s, the topmost group and the group
representing the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
were cast in copper and gilded by the Olomouc
goldsmith Šimon Forstner (1714-73). The
Column was ceremonially consecrated on 9
September 1754, in the presence of the Empress
Maria Theresa.
14
Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč
The ensemble of the Jewish Quarter, the old
Jewish cemetery and the Basilica of St
Procopius in Trebíc are reminders of the co-
existence of Jewish and Christian cultures from
the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The
Jewish Quarter bears outstanding testimony to
the different aspects of the life of this
community. St Procopius Basilica, built as part
of the Benedictine monastery in the early 13th
century, is a remarkable example of the
influence of Western European architectural
heritage in this region.
The Jewish Quarter and St Procopius Basilica of
Trebic bear witness to the coexistence of and
interchange of values between two different
cultures, Jewish and Christian, over many
centuries. Criterion iii: the Jewish Quarter of Trebic
is an exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions
related to the Jewish diaspora in central Europe.
A Benedictine Monastery was founded in a
strategic position at the crossing of Jihlava River,
in 1101. Its existence stimulated the
establishment of a market, which brought traders
and amongst them also Jews. This was the
beginning of a structural development of the
monastery together with the settlement, called
‘Podklasteri' (lit. beneath the monastery) in its
immediate vicinity, and the town of Trebic itself
on the other side of the river.
15
The Jewish Quarter was sited in the focal
point of the commercially expanding
settlement, close to the monastery and the ford
across the river. Not having any defences, it
went through the same fate as the rest of the
town, and had to suffer of many attacks and
destructions, such as those in the 15th century
by the Hungarian king. In favourable years, the
site developed and prospered allowing the
necessary facilities to be built. In the 16th
century, orders were issued to expel the Jews
but these were not carried out. As a whole the
authorities were here much more tolerant than
elsewhere in Europe. In earlier years, the Jews
were involved in money lending, but also
working in some crafts: tanning, bead firing,
glove making, and soap making. From the 17th
century on, they were mainly involved in trade
and such crafts.
From the beginning, the Jewish Quarter had its own
self-government with an elected magistrate and two
councillors. In 1849, it had its own administration
led by a mayor, and it was called Zamosti (lit. over
the bridge). In the 1920s, the area was merged with
the town of Trebic, and the population started being
mixed. In 1890, there were nearly 1,500 Jews in
this area, but in the 1930s only 300 were of Jewish
faith. All Jewish residents were deported during the
Second World War, and none are left at present.
The houses are now owned by people of non-
Jewish faith.
The Benedictine monastery , established in the
early 12th century was richly endowed, and an
important centre of ecclesiastical life and
economic development. The first monastic church
was rebuilt during the reign of King Wenceslas I
(1230-53), being ready in the 1250s. After some
damage in 1468, the church was repaired at the
end of the century. During the first half of the
16th century, the monastery was rebuilt as a
castle, and fully renovated in baroque style in
1666-84. There were various minor changes also
in the basilica, which was then restored by a well-
known Czech architect, Frantisek Maxmilian
Kanka. The works began in 1726, and restoration
of the nave was concluded in 1733. Externally
several windows were widened and buttresses
added, the south-west tower was rebuilt, and a
new west front with two towers was constructed
in the style of gothicising baroque.
16
Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and
the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec
Kutná Hora developed as a result of the
exploitation of the silver mines. In the 14th
century it became a royal city endowed with
monuments that symbolized its prosperity. The
Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late
Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady
at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the
Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to
influence the architecture of central Europe.
These masterpieces today form part of a well-
preserved medieval urban fabric with some
particularly fine private dwellings.
There has been human settlement in the Kutná Hora
region from early times. There was a mint there in
the 10th century AD, associated with the rich
deposits of silver ore. It was the latter that
determined the earliest occupation in what is now
the historic centre of the town, which seems to have
been occupied by numerous scattered mining
settlements in the 13th-16th centuries. The complex
street plan of Kutná Hora is attributable to this
early exploitation of the mineral resources,
although it preserves what is almost certainly an
anCient, nonurban road junction at its core, one
road leading to Malin and the other to Časlav.
This pattern of settlement appears to date from
the 12th century. The mid-13th century saw
major Changes in the occupation of the land. The
royal fortified towns of Časlav and Kolín were
founded in the early 1260s, both closely
associated with the silver mining in the area,
which quickly developed during the reign of
Wenceslas II (1285-1305) into a major industrial
region. The extent and intensity of this
exploitation of the mineral resources of Kutná
Hora is reported in documents of the period from
as far away as the Rhineland.
17
The Hussite wars of 1419-34 saw profound
changes at Kutná Hora. Sedlec Monastery was
destroyed by fire in 1421, to remain in a ruined
state until the late 17th century, and there were
serious fires in the town itself in 1422 and
1424 which destroyed most of its buildings.
However, the wealth resulting from silver
mining ensured that it was rapidly rebuilt when
peace was restored. Work on the churches was
led by two outstanding architects of the period,
Matĕj Rejsek and Benedikt Ried. The defences
were supplemented by an outer wall, with
irregularly spaced artillery bastions, and the
Hradek was rebuilt in Late Gothic style. The
town was also embellished by many splendid
merchant houses and with the system of
arcades that is such a feature of Kutná Hora.
The relative lack Of Renaissance buildings in the
town graphically illustrates the sudden decline in its
fortunes in the early 1540S, when the silver mines
became exhausted. The economic stagnation of
Kutná Hora was exacerbated by the after-effects Of
the Thirty Years' war (1618-48): although the town
was not itself directly affected by the war, it fell
into a deeper decline and over two hundred of its
574 houses were deserted or demolished. The
establishment of a Jesuit College in the 17th
century did little more than endow the town with a
striking new arChitectural feature, similar to the
High Baroque renovation of Sedlec cathedral in the
early 18th century by Jan Blažej santini and the
work of Killian Ignaz Dientzenhofer at the Ursuline
convent and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity.
The dissolution of Sedlec Monastery in 1785 was
followed by the deconsecration and demolition of
many of the town's smaller churches, and others
disappeared in the first half of the 19th century. It
was not until 1850, when Kutná Hora became an
administrative centre of some importance, that the
town began to revive and to begin to concern
itself about its architectural heritage.
18
Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
Between the 17th and 20th centuries, the ruling
dukes of Liechtenstein transformed their
domains in southern Moravia into a striking
landscape. It married Baroque architecture
(mainly the work of Johann Bernhard Fischer
von Erlach) and the classical and neo-Gothic
style of the castles of Lednice and Valtice with
countryside fashioned according to English
romantic principles of landscape architecture.
At 200 km2 , it is one of the largest artificial
landscapes in Europe.
The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated
property on the basis of cultural criteria (i),(ii) and
(iv) considering that the site is of outstanding
universal value being a cultural landscape which is
an exceptional example of the designed landscape
that evolved in the Enlightenment and afterwards
under the care of a single family. It succeeds in
bringing together in harmony cultural monuments
from successive periods and both indigenous and
exotic natural elements to create an outstanding
work of human creativity. The Committee decided
to include criterion (i) to the proposed criteria since
the ensemble is an outstanding example of human
creativity.
This area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic
period, and has played an important role in
subsequent historical events up to and beyond the
Middle Ages. During the Neolithic and Bronze
Ages it lay on the important Amber Route from
the Baltic to the Mediterranean. It was on the
frontier (limes) of the Roman Empire, and so
there are Several forts in the vicinity. In the 8th
century the first Slavonic state, the Great
Moravian Empire, was founded in this region,
which later became part of the Bohemian state.
19
The Lichtenstein family came first to Lednice
in the mid-13th century, and by the end of the
14th century they had also acquired nearby
Valtice. These were to become the nucleus of
the family's extensive possessions, when Karel
I of Lichtenstein was given the title of Duke in
the early 17th century he made Valtice his
main residence and Leunice his summer Seat.
The two estates were later joined with the
neighbouring Břeclav estate to form an organic
whole, to serve the recreational requirements
of the ducal family and as material evidence of
its prestige.
The realization of this grandiose design began in
the 17th century with the creation of avenues
Connecting Valtice with other Parts of the estate. It
continued throughout the 18th century with the
evolution of a framework of avenues and paths
providing vistas and rides, imposing order on
nature in the manner of the Renaissance artists and
architects. The early years of the 19th Century saw
the application by Duke Jan Josef I of the English
concept of the designed park, strongly influenced
by the work of Lancelot "Capability" Brown at
Stowe and elsewhere in England
Enormous landscaping projects were undertaken
under the supervision of his estate manager,
Bernhard Petri; these included raising the level of
the Lednice park and the digging of a new
channel for the Dvje river. A number of romantic
elements were introduced into the landscape, the
work of the architects joseph Hardtmuth, Josef
Kornhausel, and Franz Engel. Smaller parks on
the English model, the so-called Englische
Anlagen, were also created around the Mlýnský,
Prostřední, and Hlohovecky ponds.
Litomyšl Castle
20
Litomyšl Castle was originally a Renaissance
arcade-castle of the type first developed in
Italy and then adopted and greatly developed in
central Europe in the 16th century. Its design
and decoration are particularly fine, including
the later High-Baroque features added in the
18th century. It preserves intact the range of
ancillary buildings associated with an
aristocratic residence of this type.
Litomyšl Castle is an outstanding and immaculately
preserved example of the arcade castle, a type of
building first developed in Italy and modified in the
Czech lands to create an evolved form of special
architectural quality. Litomyšl Castle illustrates in
an exceptional way the aristocratic residences of
central Europe in the Renaissance and their
subsequent development under the influence of new
artistic movements.
There has been a settlement since at least the 10th
century at Litomyšl, which is located at an
important communications junction on the main
road between Bohemia and Moravia, with its
fortified core on the hill where the castle now
stands.
There is known to have been a small church
dedicated to St Clement on this site, and a
Premonstratensian monastery was founded in the
town in the first half of the 12th century. The
monastery was closed when the bishopric was
created in 1344, its buildings being shared out
between the bishop and the chapter. The
document of 1398 relating to this partition
contains the first reference to an "old palace".
21
In 1425 the town was conquered after a siege
by the Hussites, who razed all the ecclesiastical
buildings to the ground. Restoration was
undertaken at the end of the Hussite Wars by
the new owners of Litomyšl, the Kostka family
of Postupice, and details of this building have
also been shown by recent investigations. It
was damaged by fire in 1460 and again in
1546; after the second fire, the castle was
confiscated by the king, but it was almost
completely gutted after a third fire, in 1560.
A fire in 1635 caused only slight damage to the
upper storey of the castle and this was quickly
repaired. The architect František Maximilián Kaňka
was responsible for considerable modifications
from 1719 onwards in the High Baroque style. Fire
struck yet again in 1775, and the repairs involved
some remodelling. Major alterations took place in
the interior in 1792-96, to the designs of Jan
Kryštof Habich, but he was careful to preserve the
fine Renaissance gables. Since that time there have
been no changes of any consequence in the
structure, design, or decoration of the castle.
The first courtyard formed part of the original
fortified settlement. The buildings associated with
it were all built or rebuilt during the course of the
modifications that the castle underwent over time,
and this is reflected in their architectural styles.
22
Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora
This pilgrimage church, built in honour of St
John of Nepomuk, stands at Zelená Hora, not
far from Ždár nad Sázavou in Moravia.
Constructed at the beginning of the 18th
century on a star-shaped plan, it is the most
unusual work by the great architect Jan Blazej
Santini, whose highly original style falls
between neo-Gothic and Baroque.
The Vicar General of the Prague Archbishopric, Jan
(John) of Pomuk, died a martyr's death in 1393. In
1719 his physical remains were studied by a
commission appointed by the Archbishop of Prague
of the day when it was found that his tongue was
perfectly preserved, which was interpreted as
evidence of his sanctity. This initiated a wave of
enthusiasm for the cult of the martyr, and in
particular at the Cistercian monastery in Zdár nad
Sázavou, near the Bohemian border with Moravia.
This monastery had inherited the role of the
monastery at Zelená hora, near Nepomuk, where
St John Nepomuk received his early education,
which had been destroyed in the Hussite wars. It
was monks from Zelená hora who founded the
Zdár nad Sázavou house, whose abbot from 1705
until 1738 was Vaclav Vejmluva, a dedicated
follower of St John Nepomuk. He conceived his
project to build a church to the glory of the saint
which would at the same time demonstratet he
relationship betweent he two Cistercian houses.
23
The church was intended from the start as a
place of pilgrimage. Work began in 1719, three
years before the formal canonization of John of
Nepomuk confirmed the unofficial status that
he had been given in his native Bohemia for
centuries. The architect was Jan Blažej Santini,
who had been working for Vejmluva since
1706 on various projects at the monastery. The
abbot worked closely with the architect in the
design of the church by laying down its
ideological framework, based on the
symbolism of the saint's tongue and the
numerological significance of the numbers 3
and 5 (the saint died at the age of 53).
The unfinished church was consecrated on 16 May
1720, the date of St John Nepomuk's martyrdom.
The construction of the main structure was
completed by 1721 and its preliminary furnishing
and decoration was celebrated by a second
consecration the following year, although work on
the cloisters and other ancillary elements was not
completed until 1727. Major items of its interior
furnishings, such as the main and side altars, the
pulpit, and the many statues, were added in later
years.
The church was a major centre of pilgrimage
from its foundation until 1784, when the
monastery was abolished. It continued as a place
of worship, and in the 19th century the cloister
was used as a cemetery; the tombstones of this
period survive in situ.
24
Tugendhat Villa in Brno
The Tugendhat Villa in Brno, designed by the
architect Mies van der Rohe, is an outstanding
example of the international style in the
modern movement in architecture as it
developed in Europe in the 1920s. Its particular
value lies in the application of innovative
spatial and aesthetic concepts that aim to
satisfy new lifestyle needs by taking advantage
of the opportunities afforded by modern
industrial production.
The Tugendhat Villa is a masterpiece of the
Modern Movement in architecture. Criterion ii The
German architect Mies van der Rohe applied the
radical new concepts of the Modern Movement
triumphantly to the Tugendhat Villa to the design
of residential buildings. Architecture was
revolutionized by the Modern Movement in the
1920s and the work of Mies van der Rohe,
epitomized by the Tugendhat Villa, played a major
role in its worldwide diffusion and acceptance.
The Tugendhat Villa was designed by the
German architect, Mies van der Rohe (1886-
1969), for Grete Weiss and her husband Fritz
Tugendhat, members of wealthy industrial
families in the city of Brno in former
Czechoslovakia. The architect accepted the
commission in 1927, and the design process
lasted about two years, parallel with designing the
German Pavilion (1928-29) at the International
Fair in Barcelona, commissioned by the German
Government. The construction of the Tugendhat
Villa was completed by the end of 1930. The
architect took charge of the project down to the
smallest detail, also designing all the furniture of
the house, designs that have become world-
renowned.
25
Mies van der Rohe was one of the principal
architects in the development of the Modern
Movement in Architecture, which
characterized design and construction in the
1920s and 1930s in Europe and North
America. Originally from Aachen and then
working in Berlin, he was influenced by the
work and teachings of Behrens and Berlage, by
the principles of the De Stijl movement, as
well as by Frank Lloyd Wright. His early
interests were in developing design concepts
for high-rise buildings in reinforced concrete
and glass in the early 1920s: he designed the
Weissenhof apartments in Stuttgart in 1927,
another key work in the Modern Movement.
From 1926 Mies van der Rohe was a member
of the Deutscher Werkbund, and from 1930 to
1933 he was Director of the Bauhaus in
Dessau.
During the German occupation, the Tugendhat
family left Czechoslovakia and the Villa was taken
over by the German State in 1939. It lost most of its
original furniture, and was subject to some
alterations and damage - eg that caused by a bomb
explosion in the neighbourhood in 1944. After the
war, the building was taken over by the State of
Czechoslovakia; it served a nearby children's
hospital and then the national health institute of
Brno, becoming the property of the City of Brno.
In 1962 the Villa was protected as a national
monument. There was increasing interest in
restoring it, and the first study to this effect was
made in 1971, leading to a restoration campaign
in 1981-85, which guaranteed the continuation of
the use of the building on a provisional basis. The
Tugendhat Villa Fund was established in 1993,
followed by the decision of the Friends of the
Tugendhat Fund to undertake a scientific
restoration of the building. This work took place
beginning in 1994 and funds were raised to
furnish the building with replicas of the original
designs by Mies van der Rohe.
26
MADE BY ANNA KRZYSZCZAK FROM THE POLISH TEAM