Can you help complete the restoration of the great abbey church?
Situated in the rural heart of the Czech Republic, Žd’ár nad Sázavou is one of the finest surviving monastic complexes in Central Europe. Founded in 1252, it experienced a cultural renaissance after 1706 when Jan Santini-Aichel, one of the most original and inventive architects of the European Baroque, was invited by the art-loving abbot Vejmluva to remodel the abbey church and associated monastic buildings.
Santini introduced the dynamism and spatial excitement of the Baroque into the earlier Cistercian Gothic church. He also designed the high altar, where the superb sculptures by the great Baroque artist Řehoř Theny are one of the highlights of the interior.
The abbey church is the centre of a remarkably complete ensemble of eighteenth-century monastic buildings, many redesigned by Santini and including a farmstead, granaries,a mill, a prelate’s palace and summer residence.
Santini-Aichel's work there culminated in the deeply symbolic pilgrimage chapel of St John Nepomuk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. The whole area is thus one of the most remarkable manifestations of Bohemian Baroque.
Confiscated by the Communists in 1953, the abbey church was allowed to deteriorate slowly and religious life was deliberately stifled. After restitution, finally in 2005, the community immediately embarked on the massive task of repair. Much of the abbey church is now restored and Santini’s original concept can today be seen for the first time in nearly three hundred years. All this has been achieved for under £400,000, much of it given by private sponsors and parish collections.
Above: a confessional booth in a neglected state
A further £400,000 is needed for the restoration of the high altar and the organ. Smaller sums would finance restoration of the furnishings, including the four Baroque confessional booths, each costing about £1500. The Friends of Czech Historic Buildings, Gardens and Parks hopes to finance one of these. Can you help?
Santini introduced the dynamism and spatial excitement of the Baroque into the earlier Cistercian Gothic church. He also designed the high altar, where the superb sculptures by the great Baroque artist Řehoř Theny are one of the highlights of the interior.
A further £400,000 is needed for the restoration of the high altar and the organ. Smaller sums would finance restoration of the furnishings, including the four Baroque confessional booths, each costing about £1500. The Friends of Czech Historic Buildings, Gardens and Parks hopes to finance one of these. Can you help?