Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Písek)
Church of the
History
The construction of the church started with the building of
The work continued with a construction of two towers in corners of the western facade. At the same time were built side walls of the church. A main entrance was built in the northern wall, which was quite uncommon.
After finishing the exterior walls a
Exterior
Western facade
The entrance portal in this part of the church was built in the middle of the 14th century. There are
The tower
The monumental southern tower built in the western facade is 74 metres (243 ft) in height and has become the symbol of the town Písek. The construction of the tower started in 1489. In 1555 lightning hit the new tower and it burned down.[2] During the following reconstruction was built the bulbous roof (also called onion roof) instead of the old saddle roof.
At the top is an observation deck with a tracery railing. Behind the observation deck is a room for watchman, because in the past was the tower a part of the town defense system. At each side of the observation deck are clocks, which were moved from the city castle in 1860. There are some pointed windows at each side of the tower.
Northern facade
During the reconstruction of the tower in the 16th-century were made changes also in the northern part of the church. Above the north portal were built Renaissance shield arches with a new roof construction of the northern aisle. In 1726 was built an entrance hall in front of the entrance portal. It was removed in the middle of the 19th century while the church was in another reconstruction. In the same years an old sacristy next to the presbytery was demolished. The window above the old sacristy was enlarged to the same height as other windows in the presbytery. It has become the biggest window in the presbytery because of the original window. Windows in the nave above aisles or in the sacristy are usually wider than in the presbytery.
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Western facade
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Entrance portal
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Southern facade
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Presbytery
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Northern facade
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Northern facade with original entrance portal
Interior
In the church was used a so-called "bonded construction system" in which the length of one field of the nave correspond to the two fields of the aisle and to two arcades. The system was interrupted by the tower which was built on the two western fields of the southern aisle.
Presbytery
The
The adjoining bay of the presbytery has a
Also, the
On the border of the northern aisle and the nave are placed paintings Enthroned Madonna and Jesus crowned by two angels from 1270. The fresco of the Crucifixion is on the border of the southern aisle and the nave.
Aisles
In the southern
The northern aisle is less changed by reconstructions. In the western part are enlarged columns bearing the weight of the north tower and half of the organ loft. In the middle is the old entrance portal, right in the opposite to the entrance to the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk.
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Nave from organ loft
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Nave from chancel
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Southern aisle from altar of the Virgin Mary
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Connection of Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk
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Triumphal arch
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Main altar
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Altar of the Virgin Mary
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Church groundplan
Curiosity
- The original main portal on the north side is quite unusual. Its origin may be due to the orientation of the church of East-West and dropping it to the highest point surrounded by walls. The church was in that place parallel to the walls and the best access road was straight from today's Alešovo Square to the north side of the church as could be clearly seen today.
- Throughout the history of the building were built entrance portals in all sides of the church. Even there was an entrance portal leading directly into the presbytery, which was bricked up in 2001. The southern entrance was bricked up two years earlier.
- The tower clock swapped size of pointers because of economic reasons. The big pointer shows hours and the small pointer shows minutes.
Bibliography
- Soukup, Josef: Soupis památek Historických a uměleckých, díl 33. Politický okres písecký (1910), pp. 202–226.
- Adámek Jan, Sommer Jan; Všetečková Zuzana, Středověký kostel Panny Marie v Písku, Prácheňské nakladatelství firmy Ires (2001), 145 p. ISBN 80-86566-00-5
- Adámek Jan, Škoch Jiří, Písecké katolické kostely, Písek, Římskokatolická farnost Písek v Prácheňském nakladatelství (2005), 54 p. ISBN 80-86566-26-9
References
- ISBN 80-86566-00-5.
- ^ Soukup, Josef. "Soupis památek Historických a uměleckých".
External links
- Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on the official tourist portal of Písek
- Virtual visit