Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Tachov)

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Church of the Assumption in Tachov

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Tachov is located on a hill near the former city fortifications, a few streets from the town square. Construction began during the reign of Charles IV. During its long existence, the church was often damaged by fire. It was repeatedly reconstructed and rebuilt in 1908 as part of the regotization. The church has been protected as a cultural monument since 1958 .

history

middle Ages

The town of Tachov has a long history of settlement. The Slavs built a fort here. The most important route connecting Bohemia and Bavaria led through this area. The first documented mentions about Tachau come from the early 12th century. During the reign of Ottokar I , Tachau was also the most important national defense point.

The position of the church

The city flourished under the reign of Ottokar II . The small church of St. Wenceslas has also been preserved to this day, which is mentioned in the endowment document by Johann Luxemburg from October 19, 1329. The Church of St. Wenceslas and an unknown chapel transferred this document to the Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star . However, this small church was no longer sufficient for the growing city. Therefore the construction of a new larger church was started. The dating of the church confirms the shape of the building elements, which are typical for the time of Charles IV , and also the excessive proportions of the church. There are no surviving documents from the 14th and 15th centuries about the structure of the church.

During the Hussite Wars it became desolate and the two pastors there left the church because of the fear of the Hussites. In 1492 both the church and the whole city were destroyed by fire. After the fire, it was reconstructed and converted. The nave was repaired and the new late Gothic tracery was placed in the windows . Different rib profiles are evidence of this conversion. In 1558 the church was damaged again by fire and repaired again. The new floor of the bell tower was added and the new altar and choir (wooden at the time) were added to the church. In 1618 the town council, the majority of which were Lutherans, bought the church and afterwards the church was looted by radical Lutherans. They broke seven altars, trampled on the relics and sold the undamaged valuables.

Thirty Years' War

At the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648 the church was sacked by Swedish troops. They started a fire that damaged the entire city and both churches. Further repairs were carried out between 1647 and 1649. The new main altar was consecrated in 1663.

Regotization

In 1883 a meeting was held, which was led by the architect Josef Mocker . This meeting decided to rebuild the church, which was in critical condition at that time. Due to the lack of money, however, this renovation was not carried out until 1904–1908. The project of the renovation was created by the Czech architect, restorer and educator A. Cechner and it was realized by three builders - František Bradner, Jan Bradner and engineer Haubner. The newly reconstructed church was consecrated on November 28, 1908.

Changes in regotization

The church tower roof has had an onion dome since the 17th century. As part of this redesign, the aforementioned onion roof was replaced by a hipped roof with four small corner towers (pylons). The tower walkway was also removed and a roof turret was added to the crest of the main nave. Inside, a two-story choir was prepared and the parapet was decorated with tracery. The decorations on the windows and portals were also renovated.

20th century

In 1929 the church was designated as the Archdeacon Church. It was hit by a bomb during World War II , but only the northern part of the church was damaged, restored in 1945-1946 and the tower opened to the public. A fire broke out here in 1963, damaging the tower stairs and the roof structure. The roof structure was not renewed until 1967–1968. The church underwent the next change in 1995 when the new tracery was placed in the windows in the southern part of the presbytery.

Exterior

The Assumption Church is located on a hill, not far from the former city wall. This location makes it possible to use the church tower as part of the city fortifications. The total length of the east facing church is 45.5 meters.

Church parts

The church is divided into a main nave and two low aisles . Instead of the polygonal end there are staggered supports on the facade. They are connected to a continuous ledge.

Portals

The current main entrance is on the east side. It is covered with a forward roofed loggia . This loggia is raised by seven steps above the terrain and adorned with an overlapping profile of the pointed arch . The church is accessed through a high pointed arch portal. Inside there is a wooden vestibule. Another large entrance in the shape of a pointed arch is on the north side, under the church tower. Both stair towers have their own entrances. On the north side, in the middle of the aisle, there is a large pointed arch portal with a segment reveal . Many small portals can be seen at the edge of the church. One of them is placed on the north side, it leads into the oratory and has the shape of a shoulder arch with a slope. Another entrance in the form of a simple stone lintel exists on the east side, on the axis of the altar . On the east side there is a small pointed arch portal, which is walled in. A separate portal in the form of a shoulder arch with an overlapping profile leads into the sacristy on the south side.

tower

The tower forms a dominant feature on the west side of the church. It is 70 meters high and has eight wooden floors. The current appearance of the roof structure comes from the regotization. The tower has a hipped roof with four small corner towers.

The ground floor has a cross vault . There are two low polygon staircases on the sides of the church tower. The stairwell in the southern annex leads to the two floors of the choir and the attic of the south nave. The access to the roof of the north tower leads through the organ choir . The north staircase leads to the choir from which the tower can be accessed. The entrance to the tower has an anteroom with a pointed arch portal. This anteroom emerges from the facade in the form of a bay window. The first floor of the church tower is now about two meters below the level of the stairs and there is only one window on the south side of the church tower. The second floor is illuminated by two loopholes. There are smaller, asymmetrical windows on the third, fourth and fifth floors. The church bells and three tall windows are on the sixth floor. The fourth window on the west side is walled in. The clock machine connected to the bells is on the seventh floor. The different distribution of the windows is also used here. On the south and north side there are two windows, on the west and east side there is only one window. The bell ringer's apartment was on the eighth floor, with access to the colonnade. During the Regotization changes, this walkway was removed. The ladder allows access to the roof structure.

window

There are two-axis arched windows. Each part is closed with a three-pass , above which there is a tracery . In the side aisles, the windows are usually decorated with four leaves. In the main nave, however, there are different tracery. In one part of the presbytery there are three-axis windows. These windows are closed with nuns' heads and above them are the tracery with a three-pass. The windows in the oratory are rectangular, have two parts and an overlapping profile.

interior

The floor plan
The cross vaults in the main nave

The church is designed as a three-nave basilica. The towering main nave is separated from the side aisles by an arcade with a pointed arch. There is a tracery window area above the arcade. Both the aisles and the main nave have cross vaults . The profiled ribs are attached to the decorated consoles in the nave. The coats of arms of the developers (investors) are carved into the consoles. In a console there is a bust of an investor. The consoles in the side aisles are designed as spurs. The profile of the ribs is different in the nave and in the presbytery, which indicates a different age. The keystones are decorated with the plant decorations.

presbytery

The presbytery is vaulted with two vaulted fields and ended with a (six sides) polygon. There is a zone upstairs with tall windows. The conclusion is radially arched . In each of the fields of the degree there is a sector with a high window. The supports are attached to the ledges under the windows. There is a crypt under the presbytery . The entrance is in front of the main altar and is covered with a stone slab.

Oratorio

On the north side of the presbytery there is a rectangular oratory with two stained glass windows. These windows have pointed arches and are decorated with an overlapping profile. Both the choir and the oratorio date from the time of the regotization of church building.

sacristy

There is a floor sacristy on the south side of the presbytery . The sacristy and the oratory have their own entrances from the street and also their own entrances to the presbytery.

Choir

There is a two-story choir on the west side of the main nave. The first floor is intended for the singers, the second is used as the organ floor. The first floor is opened into the main nave through an arched arcade. The parapet is decorated with the blind four-leaves. The parapet on the second floor is decorated with blind three-way passes.

Furnishing

The church is dominated by the large baroque altar depicting the Virgin Mary . On the sides of the main altar are the statues of St. Paul and St. Peters. On the base of the altar there are three statues of the archangels . There were also two side altars in the church. The left altar, the angelic altar, has been lost. The right altar was dedicated to the Holy Cross. It is adorned with the statues of St. John Nepomuk , St. Antonius , St. Joseph and St. Franz von Assisis . The three altars date from the repair period after the Thirty Years' War . The pulpit is on the north side of the main nave. It is decorated with four statues of the evangelists. An ordinary canopy is attached over the pulpit, which is closed with the sculpture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the consoles on the sides of the nave and in the presbytery there are ten statues of the Bohemian patron saint. The statues are made of wood and chrome-plated in many colors. The saints are shown in full life size. The symbols of the investors are immortalized on the pedestals. The dean and spiritual father of the city of Tachau, Johann Franz Franchimont, had these statues made by the baroque woodcarver and sculptor Jan Brokoff between 1684 and 1695. Over the years the statues and maybe the plinths have been rearranged. For example, under the statue of St. Vitus , the coat of arms of Johann Anton Losy von Losinthal and under the statue of St. Wenzels the coat of arms of his wife Johann Anton Sofie Polyxen von Krösig was shown.

Statues

supporting documents

literature

  • Jaroslav Herout - Staletí kolem nás, 1961, Praha
  • Zdeněk Procházka - Historicko-turistický průvodce, Tachov - město, 1997, Domažlice
  • Jaroslava Staňková, Josef Pechar - Tisíciletý vývoj architektury, 1972, Praha
  • Karel Drhovský - Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie, Tachov, 2008, Tachov
  • Jan Oulík - Diplomová práce: Barokní znakové gallery. Heraldická reprezentace šlechty, duchovenstva a měšťanstva, její interpretace a možnosti využití
  • SOkA Tachov

Coordinates: 49 ° 47 '47.2 "  N , 12 ° 38' 0.5"  E