Rotunda of St. Catherine (Znojmo)
The rotunda of St. Catherine is in the area of the Přemyslid castle in the Moravian town of Znojmo . The early medieval rotunda is decorated with Romanesque frescoes from 1134 depicting Bohemian and Moravian rulers and scenes from the country's history. It has been a national cultural monument since 1962 .
history
According to archaeological investigations, the building site was already settled in the Bronze Age. The remains of a previous object set into the rock were found on site. The Romanesque rotunda , originally dedicated to the Annunciation , was probably built in the middle of an extensive outer bailey . Its construction is attributed to Břetislav I , who had it built either during his Moravian or during his later Bohemian rule, probably by 1019 at the latest. It is possible that the rotunda and castle did not come into existence until the second half of the 11th century, when Moravia was divided into three principal principalities (Brno, Znojmo and Olomouc). The building was first mentioned in 1100, when Duke Bořivoj II celebrated his wedding here. The function of the rotunda is not entirely clear. It is believed that it served as a place of worship for the castle owner and his entourage as well as the surrounding area. It does not have a grandstand that would be typical for a separate church . According to archaeologists, this function was to be taken over by a raised horseshoe-shaped stone bench, the remains of which were found during an excavation. As an inscription from the 13th century shows, the Přemyslid part-prince Konrad II of Znojmo had the rotunda rebuilt in 1134 and decorated with the frescoes that have survived to this day. In that year the patronage of St. Catherine was added.
After the city of Znojmo was founded, the rotunda was subordinated to the parish of St. Nicholas as a subsidiary church in 1226 . From 1287 it belonged to the parish church of St. Michael, which Heinrich von Leipa and the rotunda ceded to the local Poor Clare monastery in 1320 . From 1551 the parish of St. Michael belonged to the city, in 1555 the Poor Clares also sold the rotunda. How it was subsequently used is unknown. In 1710, the Hostan brewery was built in front of the castle walls and at the end of the 18th century a stable was housed in the rotunda . From 1830 it served as a dance hall and beer bar. In 1879 a basket weaver's workshop is occupied here. The building was reconstructed in 1888 and the frescoes were first restored in 1891–1893. Further restorations took place in 1938, 1947–1949 and 1969. More recent renovations took place in 1966 and 1991.
On March 30, 1962, the rotunda was declared a national cultural monument by the ČSR State Law No. 251/62.
description
Building
The rotunda consists of an oval nave to which an apse is attached to the east . Small Romanesque windows illuminate the interior. The masonry does not consist of classical Romanesque blocks, but of irregular dark rubble stones that are carefully layered. In the masonry, walled-up pockets of scaffolding beams were preserved.
Originally a lantern closed the roof, but it was torn down in the 18th century. The lantern was not intended as a light source, because only seven small openings were made in the vault, which were probably used for ventilation, a bell rope, lamps and the like. The rotunda was probably originally plastered. The plaster apparently fell off or was chipped off in the 18th or 19th centuries.
Frescoes
The interior of the rotunda is painted with Romanesque frescoes. The paintings cover the entire surface of the inner walls in the apse and the main nave from the floor to the dome and are arranged in parallel bands.
In the apse there is a drapery in the lower band , in the middle the twelve apostles under arcades , in the dome finally the blessing Christ in the mandorla and symbols of the four evangelists .
In the main nave, the lowest band is also formed by a painted drapery, above a band holds scenes from the youth of Jesus ( Annunciation , Visitation of Mary , the dream of St. Joseph , the birth of Christ , the Annunciation of the Shepherds , the Adoration of the Kings , the child murder of Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt ). Above it, a volume depicts Přemysl's vocation to rule, eight figures with symbols of rulers and cloaks and, next to the entrance to the apse, the two founders, Conrad II of Znojmo and his wife Maria, are depicted. The top volume contains a further ten rulers with cloaks and nine rulers without cloaks. The figures with cloaks are interpreted as Bohemian, those without cloaks as Moravian Přemyslids, one of the figures can be recognized by the crown and scepter as King Vratislav II . The dome is decorated with a dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit , underneath the four evangelists sit at writing desks between four cherubim .
meaning
The reconstruction of the rotunda was related to an agreement between Konrad II and the Bohemian Duke Soběslav I. He had illegally appropriated the throne in 1125, contrary to the seniority principle established by Břetislav I. During the first years of his reign, he had all the other aspirants to the throne arrested and imprisoned. He also wanted to secure the Prague throne for his sons. After uncovering an uprising by the Moravian nobility and punishing the conspirators, however, he had to find a balance and entered into an agreement with Conrad II. After this agreement, Konrad was assured of his successor, if in return he would take over the guardianship of Soběslav's sons, who in turn would succeed him. This pact was probably concluded at the wedding of Konrad with Maria, daughter of the Serbian Nemanjid ruler Uroš I , at the Znojmo Castle in 1134. The following painting of the rotunda with the figures of the ruling family and legends about the creation of the dynasty and the state should symbolize Konrad's claim to the Prague throne.
There are also theories that try to relocate the frescoes to much earlier times. At the end of the 1980s, the Znojm historian Jaroslav Zástěra put forward a thesis that the rotunda was built as an archbishopric church under King Rastislav during the Great Moravian era . The painting was directed by Saint Methodius , who had the Moravian rulers depicted here. In 1134 the Bohemian rulers were then painted. According to Zástěra, the oldest known Přemyslide Bořivoj I should have been a son of Rastislav. The Czech publicist Václav Tatíček presented another theory in 2001. Afterwards, the frescoes were created at the suggestion of Božetěch, the last Slavic abbot of the Sázava monastery . Both theories are not scientifically recognized and have been refuted several times.
literature
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Used literature:
- Anežka Merhautová: Přemyslovský cycle ve znojemské rotundě . In: Sommer, Petr; Třeštík, Dušan; Žemlička, Josef, et al .: Přemyslovci. Budování českého státu . Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, Prague 2009, ISBN 978-80-7106-352-0 , pp. 278-280.
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Further reading:
- Jan Bažant: Budování minulosti: znojemská rotunda a renesance 12. století . Listy filologické 118, 1995, pp. 20-37.
- Antonin Friedl: Přemyslovci ve Znojmě. Iconography posvatného Oráče v českém mythu . Prague 1966.
- Lubomír Jan Konečný: Románská rotunda ve Znojmě. Iconology maleb a architektury . HOST, Brno 2005, ISBN 80-7294-171-2
- Barbara Krzemieńska, Anežka Merhautová, Dušan Třeštík: Moravští Přemyslovci ve znojemské rotundě . Set out, Praha 2000, ISBN 80-86277-09-7
- Barbara Krzemieńska: The rotunda in Znojmo and the position of Moravia in the Bohemian Premyslid state . Historica 27, 1987, pp. 5-59.
Web links
- znojemskarotunda.cz - Website of the Club of Friends of the Znojmo Rotunda (Klub přátel znojemské rotundy) with numerous images
Individual evidence
- ↑ rotunda sv. Kateřiny ÚSKP 11796 / 7-6944 in the monument catalog pamatkovykatalog.cz (Czech).
- ^ Krzemieńska, Barbara; Merhautová, Anežka; Třeštík, Dušan: Moravští Přemyslovci ve znojemské rotundě . Set out, Praha 2000, ISBN 80-86277-09-7
- ↑ Václav Taticek: Nejstarší dějiny Čech a Moravy. Speaking of which, Prague 2001.
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ′ 20 ″ N , 16 ° 2 ′ 37 ″ E