Agnes Monastery (Prague)
| Agnes Monastery | |
|---|---|
 St. Salvator Church and St. Francis Church (right), 2019 |
|
| location | U Milosrdných 17, Prague |
| Coordinates: | 50 ° 5 '32.5 " N , 14 ° 25' 26" E |
| founding year | 1233 by Poor Clares |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1420 |
| Year of repopulation | 1556 |
| Year of re-dissolution | 1782 |
The Agnes Monastery ( Anežský klášter in Czech ) is a monastery complex from the 13th century in the old town of Prague . The convent is named after its founder, Princess Agnes of Bohemia , who presided over it as abbess from 1235 to 1237. The Czech cultural monument (1978) is one of the most important works of early Gothic architecture in Prague and was the first Franciscan double monastery north of the Alps. In addition to the Poor Clares there was a minorite monastery for Franciscan friars.
In 1234 construction began on the complex, which at the time of its heyday extended over seven churches and two cloisters . The monastery, which has been secularized since Josephinism , now houses a permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague on medieval sacred art in Bohemia and Central Europe.
history
Around 1231 Agnes' brother, King Wenceslas I , donated land for the construction of a convent and the St. Francis Hospital, which is first mentioned in 1233. During this time the first nuns from the Italian convent of San Damiano near Assisi arrived. Seven virgins from the Bohemian aristocracy joined them. In 1234 Agnes took her monastery vows due to the failed dynastic marriage plans of the Bohemian king and the monastery received significant privileges. It was now under the patronage of King Wenceslaus I and Pope Gregory IX.
Agnes, known for her celibate and humble way of life, was appointed abbess in 1235. As early as 1237 she resigned from this office, but did not lose influence on monastic life. By 1240 the male monastery of the Franciscans Na Františku was built , which followed the rules of St. Augustine , and was assigned to the Poor Clare Monastery.
King Wenceslas I, who died in 1253, was buried in the presbytery of the St. Francis Church. His successor, Ottokar II. Přemysl , took over the patronage of the monastery. Princess Agnes died in 1282. She found her final resting place in the Virgin Mary Chapel.
Buildings of the complex were probably damaged or destroyed by fire in 1343. An extensive reconstruction took place. With the start of the Hussite Wars , the nuns were driven out of the convent in 1420, the furniture was destroyed, the land was sold and the building was used as a warehouse. The Poor Clares returned in 1439 and the Franciscans in 1443. While the nuns left the monastery in 1495 and moved to the Monastery of Panenský Týnec , the Franciscans stayed for the time being. In 1556 the Dominicans moved into the dilapidated complex, as they had to vacate their domicile near Charles Bridge in favor of the Jesuits. The land of the monastery was divided and sold. The Franciscan monastery gradually went into decline.
Under the orders of Archduke Leopold V of Austria-Tyrol , the Bishop of Passau , Passau troops invaded Bohemia and Prague in 1611 to defend the Bohemian royal dignity in the fraternal dispute in the House of Habsburg for Emperor Rudolf II against his successor Matthias . This turned out to be in vain, since the Bohemian estates supported Matthias. In the course of the invasion, probably because Leopold could not pay his troops, the monastery was plundered by them. The Dominicans received a church in the old town of Prague in 1626; the heavily damaged and almost uninhabitable St. Agnes monastery fell back into the hands of the Poor Clares. In 1689, a major fire in the old town destroyed the monastery.
The monastery was secularized in 1782 through the reforms of Emperor Joseph II . Plans to use the site for military purposes were not implemented. In 1793 the convent buildings were sold at auction, divided up and used as living space for the poor in the city. In 1881, the unused buildings were to be demolished as most of them had fallen into disrepair. Instead, the area was measured and documented for the first time. In 1893 the Society for the Renewal of the Blessed Agnes Monastery in Prague was founded. She bought historically valuable buildings and restored them as part of the Bohemian cultural heritage. The first reconstruction work took place from 1900 to 1914. In the 1940s, the site was archaeologically examined. Important tombs of the Přemyslids were discovered, including that of Agnes and Wenceslaus I.
In 1963, areas of the building were made available for parts of the collections of the Prague National Gallery. The last reconstruction work began in 1965 and ended in 1986. From 1986 the complex was opened to the public. After the devastating floods in 2002 , the building complex was gradually rebuilt.
architecture
The chapter house , the refectory and a cloister have been preserved from the original structure . The oldest building, which is also the oldest Gothic building in Prague, is St. Francis Church, which was consecrated in 1234. In the last quarter of the 16th century the church was already destroyed. The choir, in which the grave of King Wenceslas I was found during excavation work, and the surrounding walls with elements of early Gothic architecture have been preserved. The presbytery with a pentagonal apse was added to the nave between 1238 and 1245. In the place of the former double aisle there is now a concert hall.
A brick building with the brick north gable has been preserved from the east wing of the monastery. Here the chapter house with an early Gothic beamed ceiling can be visited. The refectory joins it. The foundation walls of the neighboring Minorite monastery were excavated south of the St. Francis Church.
To the north-east of the church, another church was built in the immediate vicinity around 1350, in the place of which is today's St. Salvator Church with the Virgin Mary Chapel. The chapel was originally divided into two rooms that were later merged. An altar was on the east wall. The chapel was used to bless the abbess and the consecration of the nuns. Wooden planks were laid along the walls. The cloister around the square Paradieshof was built until 1360. The chalice capitals of the wall services of the cross vault are decorated with relief ornaments. The presbytery of St. Salvator's Church was built towards the end of the 14th century. Its fan vault stands on wall services with artfully decorated capital reliefs.
One of the two opposite capitals of the church triumphal arch bears five heads of crowned rulers. During excavations, the remains of the founder of the monastery, Agnes of Bohemia, were discovered in the choir. In the course of this archaeological work, other slabs of the Přemyslids were found, such as those of Queen Guta (1271–1297) or Kunigunde von Halitsch (1245–1285), wife of Ottokar II.
The convent was rebuilt by the middle of the 14th century. The St. Barbara Church was built, which was redesigned in baroque style after the fire of 1689. The cloister wings received an additional floor. Around 1375 a tower was built for the St. Francis Church.
exhibition
The permanent exhibition of the National Gallery shows medieval sacred art from Central Europe. The oldest item in the collection is a late Romanesque statue of the Virgin Mary from Moravia . Most of the mainly Gothic sculptures, winged altars and panel paintings come from Czech churches.
Various carved Madonnas, influenced by French art, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries are exhibited in the first room of the museum. A separate hall shows the panel painting cycle of the master von Hohenfurth from around 1330 to 1350 . Another room presents works by Theodoric of Prague , court painter to Charles IV. Furthermore, the unique preserved parts of a winged altar, with the main work Madonna von Roudnice , from 1380, which are attributed to the master von Wittingau , can be seen. Works by the master of the Leitmeritz altar , six panels by the master of the von Raigern altar and the gloomy triptych called the Reininghaus altar are also on display. The bust of St. Adalbert and paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder round off the exhibition.
literature
- Christian-Frederik Felskau: Agnes of Bohemia and the monastery of the Poor Clares and Franciscans in Prague: life and institution, legend and veneration . Bautz, Nordhausen 2008, ISBN 978-3-88309-427-4 .
- Michal Flegl: Prague . Olympia Publishing House, Prague 1988.
- Harald Salfellner: Prague . Vitalis, 2011, ISBN 978-3-89919-186-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Allianz travel guide Prague . Baedeker, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-8297-1302-3 .
- ^ A b Detlev Arens: Art Travel Guide Prague . DuMont, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-4303-0 .
- ↑ a b c Information board in the monastery (as of October 2012)
- ↑ Flegl, Prague , p. 17.