Jesuit Church Maria Schnee (Olomouc)

Facade of the Jesuit Church Maria Schnee, Olomouc

The Jesuit Church of Our Lady of the Snow ( Kostel Panny Marie Sněžné in Czech ) is an important Baroque church in the Moravian town of Olomouc . It is the parish church of the Roman Catholic university community and belongs to the Olomouc deanery of the Archdiocese of Olomouc . It is located in the north of the old town facing Denisova Street , while the monastery buildings are on Náměstí Republiky . The patronage refers to the feast day of Mary Snow on August 5th , which commemorates a snow miracle at the inauguration of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome . The church is a listed building .

history

View of the Jesuit Church and Monastery, 1724

In place of the current church building there was originally a Gothic Minorite church built in 1266 . Bishop Prusinovský gave it to the Jesuits who were brought to the city in 1567 and founded the Olomouc University . Therefore, the church had become a university church in 1573. As the Gothic church no longer met the requirements and the increasing prestige of the university over time, the foundation stone for the new church was laid in 1712. It was inaugurated in February 1716 and the building was completed in 1722 with the addition of the staircase. After the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, the church continued to serve as a university church until 1778, when the university was also moved to Brno . Since 1785 it was an imperial garrison church and at times even a warehouse. It kept the function of the military church until 1950. During the communist era, the church belonged to the city. From 1990 onwards it is open to the faithful again. The new university congregation defined in 2006 is now again looked after by Jesuits.

The interior of the church building was restored from 1916 to 1918 by Adolf Kašpar , Rudolf Doležal and other artists. The valuable organ was renovated in the 1970s, and most recently in the 1990s the exterior facade was restored.

Church building

The church building follows the traditional type of Jesuit churches , as they were built on the basis of the Il Jesù cathedral in Rome, with a chapel wreath around a nave. The direct model is likely to have been the St. Nicholas Church on the Lesser Town in Prague . The building was built by the builder Lukas Kleckel according to plans by the builder Michael Klein from the Silesian town of Neisse .

Cartouche with the inscription IHS, Maria Schnee, Olomouc

Exterior

The corrugated front of the church, framed by two towers, has a monumental portal with twisted columns, on which a balcony with a balustrade rests , as a central design element . A cartridge shows the IHS used by the Jesuits . A wide staircase with a stone balustrade leads to the church. The valuable portal was created by the sculptor Wenzel Render . The facade is further adorned by statues of Saints Ignatius of Loyola , Francis Xavier , Apollonia of Alexandria , Laurentius of Rome , Peter , Agnes of Rome , Valentin of Terni and Paul , which were made by David Zürn III. come.

Interior

Interior of the Maria Schnee church, Olomouc

The single-nave interior of the church is richly decorated with stucco and paintings from the 18th century. The large ceiling paintings Apotheosis of the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven in the presbytery and the Miracle of the Virgin Mary Snow in the nave were created by the Viennese painter Karl Franz Joseph Haringer in the years 1716–1717. The stucco work comes from Antonio Ricci, a citizen of Olomouc from Ticino .

The painting of the main altar Revelation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome was painted by the Viennese painter Johann Georg Schmidt in 1720.

Next to the presbytery on the left is the chapel of St. Ignatius von Loyola with the altarpiece by Johann Christoph Handke . The tombstone of Bishop Wilhelm Prusinovský von Víckov is also located here . The chapel of St. Anna , whose altarpiece was also painted by Handke. The Chapel of St. Joseph , the chapel of St. Archangel Michael (altarpiece by Josef Franz Wickart), and finally the chapel of St. Guardian Angel , where Handke created the image of Tobias with the Archangel Raphael .

Next to the presbytery on the right is the Chapel of St. Franz Xaver with the tombstone of the cathedral chapter dean Breuner. This is followed by the chapel of St. Paula of Rome , St. Aloisius of Gonzaga , St. Charles Borromeo and St. Barbara from Nicomedia , whose painting jewelry in turn comes from Johann Christoph Handke and Josef Franz Wickart.

Organ gallery, Maria Schnee, Olomouc

The figural decoration of the church was created by the sculptors Augustin Johann Thomasberger , Johann Sturmer and Philipp Sattler .

organ

The organ built in 1728 by Johann Gottfried Halbich from Grulich is of particular importance . It is richly adorned with 41 statues, which are known as the sky orchestra, and were executed by Thomasberger and Sturmer. The instrument, famous for its pure baroque sound, has two manuals , a pedal , 28 registers , a mechanical action , three couplings and a tremolo.