Budweis Dominican Monastery

Dominican monastery and church (seen from the Black Tower)

The former Dominican monastery , together with parts of the city fortifications, is the oldest building in Budweis . The monastery complex is located at the north-western end of the historic city center between the Maltsch , which flows into the Vltava immediately afterwards , Piarist Square (a cemetery in the Middle Ages) and Česká Ulice (Czech Street). The main attraction is the Gothic cloister with its wall paintings.

history

King Přemysl Otakar II. , Who had already formed the land above the Enns between 1254 and 1261 and founded the Goldenkron monastery in 1263 , founded the monastery and the city of Budweis in 1265 at the confluence of the Maltsch and Moldau rivers and in the middle of the Rosenbergs' territory . The stone-built monastery building formed an essential part of the city fortifications.

The cloister and parts of the church have been preserved from the early Gothic period . The convent buildings, on the other hand, have been rebuilt again and again over the centuries - often as a result of city fires.

In the middle of the 16th century the monastery became orphaned, which also led to the loss of the monastery library. The empty rooms of the monastery were used by the Salt Office on the one hand, and a mint was built in them in 1569 due to the increased silver mining in nearby Rudolfov and Adamov . For this purpose the "Münzgezeug" of the Linz Mint , which had been closed in 1558, was brought to Budweis. The Budweiser Mint was in operation until the invasion of the Passau people , commanded by Laurentius Ramée , on January 31, 1611. The mercenary troops were quartered in the Dominican monastery and neighboring buildings for four months and during this time also devastated the mining facilities in Rudolfov and the surrounding area. The third and last mint master from Budweis, Christoph Mattighofer, then tried in vain to revive the mint in Linz .

The devastating Budweiser fire of 1728 destroyed large parts of the monastery and triggered extensive renovations.

On December 14, 1784, Emperor Josef II dissolved the Dominican Convention . In 1785 the Piarists moved here with their Latin grammar school and student college, as their college became the bishop's residence for the newly founded diocese of Budweis . Exactly a hundred years later (1885) the Redemptorists took over the monastery, from whose time the neo-Gothic facilities date and which remained in Budweis until 1949.

In the second half of the 20th century, the buildings were used alternately as a folk high school (lidová škola umění), school canteen, tax office and the Komenský Academy. In 1993 numerous other Gothic wall paintings from the 14th century were uncovered. The monastery now serves as a primary school for the arts and belongs to the diocese of Budweis.

building

With the onion dome, the portal and the oval windows below the roof, the monastery complex has a baroque appearance. Gothic remains are the valuable cloister and, among other things, a window on the ground floor of the originally Gothic tower.

Cloister

The remarkable cloister was built in the second half of the 14th century. The well chapel protruding into the inner courtyard is dated to 1380. The most valuable wall painting is the picture of the Madonna of the Protective Cloak, which was probably painted in 1378 for historical reasons: Under the Madonna's spread cloak, two figures with royal insignia can be seen, among other things, as Emperor Charles IV and his son Václav IV. identified. The cloister was renovated between 2004 and 2010 and can be visited in the summer months.

White Tower

The very first “White Tower” in Ceske Budejovice was part of the city fortifications on the site of today's South Bohemian Theater . Even today, some rooms in the theater are said to have a circular floor plan.

Today's White Tower (Bílá věž) together with the contrasting color so-called Black Tower (Černá věž) of the St. Nicholas Cathedral form a distinctive optical axis in the old town of Ceske Budejovice. The White Tower is a bit older, but around 20 meters lower than the Black Tower.

The White Tower was built in the middle of the 15th century in a Gothic style with a prismatic floor plan and a high hipped roof . The chapel of Saints Felix and Adauctus contained therein was also called the “Czech Church” (ecclesia Bohemorum). After the fire of 1728, a baroque superstructure with a temporary roof was built. In 1772, the modern rococo-style dome was finally completed. A Gothic window has been preserved on the ground floor and remains of late Gothic wall paintings inside.