Location: Marketska 28, Brevnovsky Klaster
Established: 993 AD
Tel. 220 406 111
Trolley: 8, 15, 22, 25
www.brevnov.cz
Brevnov Monastery is a Roman Catholic complex in the Prague
outskirts. It was originally found in the ninth century. Brevnov
Monastery was founded in 993 AD by Vojtech who was the second bishop
of Prague and was later canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Due
to political rivalry inside the big city, he was forced to resign
from his position. He briefly went to Rome and then he came back to
Central Bohemia he established a monastery with help of Benedictine
monks.
The legend claims that residents around Brevnov
Monastery found timber that was floating on the surface of a well.
Locals used it to construct the new monastery. In Czech, the name of
Brevnov Monastery is translated as a "Timber" Monastery. The name is
unofficial, but it stuck with Brevnov Monastery for ease of
pronunciation since its official name of Benedictine Archabbey of
Saint Vojtech (Adalbert) and Saint Margaret is pretty long.
Brevnov Monastery was constructed and destroyed repeatedly.
Unfortunately, we don't know how did it look. Brevnov Monastery
along with Bohemia was swept by religious conflicts of the Hussite
and Thirty Years' Wars. Its current Baroque facade was acquired in
the eighteen century by architect Dientzenhofers and his son. The
interior of the Church of Saint Margaret is covered by frescoes of
Brandl. It carries the noble title of Basilica Minor, given to it by
the pope. Locals claim that it is the first church in the vicinity
of Prague to receive such an award. It is interesting to note that
in times of the Communist regime between 1948-1989, it was used as
one of the headquarters of the Secret Police.
Today Brevnov
Monastery is open to the public. The best time to visit is the warm
months of the year on weekends then the garden and the main church
are open to the public. After the collapse of the atheistic
Communist government about a dozen monks got a chance to return to
the monastery. Besides the main buildings, you can inquire about the
old Romanesque crypt that was found here during archaeological digs
in 1969. It is one of the few surviving structures from the Medieval
period of monastery history.
According to legend, the monastery was founded on the spot near the
source of the Brusnice stream, where Bishop Vojtěch supposedly met
Prince Boleslav while hunting. Bishop Vojtěch of Prague came into
contact with the monks of the Order of Saint Benedict during his exile
in Italy, when, among other things, he stayed in the oldest western
monastery on Monte Cassino. On April 17, 990, he took religious vows in
the Greek-Latin Benedictine monastery of Saints Alexius and Boniface on
the Roman Aventine. On his return to his homeland, the bishop brought
twelve brothers from this monastery with him, who then formed the first
monastic community of the newly built monastery. The consecration of the
(apparently still provisional) monastery building took place on January
14, 993 (according to a falsa from the 13th century), only shortly after
the bishop's return to the homeland, making the Břevnov Monastery the
oldest male monastery on Czech territory; Pope John XV confirmed its
creation in May of that year. The relationship between the Břevnov
Monastery and the Roman home monastery of the monks is best illustrated
by the original dedication of the Břevnov Monastery "to the honor of the
Mother of God, Saint Benedict and Saints Boniface and Alexius". The
monastery then took its name from the adjacent village of Břevnová.
The founder of the monastery was the Czech prince Boleslav II. and
the construction had to have started before the year 993, for example,
the chronicler Přibík Pulkava from Radenín considers the year 992 to be
the year the monastery was founded. Six years later, the same prince
founded another Benedictine monastery on Ostrov u Davle. A certain
Anastasius, also mentioned as Astrik, became the first abbot of the new
monastery. In the middle of the 11th century, abbot Meinhard built the
Romanesque basilica of St. Benedict and Vojtěch and founded a monastery
in Rajhrad near Brno. At the beginning of the 14th century, Abbot Bavor
of Nečtin rebuilt the monastery and the church, which has been dedicated
to St. Margaret, and founded a monastery in Broumov. A number of
excellent monks lived in the monastery, for example Jan of Holešov, who
was probably the first to use diacritical spelling. In 1420, the
monastery was destroyed by the Taborites. The monks who survived went to
Broumov. The monastery was restored only in the middle of the 16th
century, at the end of the 17th century under Abbot Tomáš Sartoria,
today's Old Convent was established (in honor of the important restorer
of the Sartoria monastery, the nearby Sartoriova street was named after
him).
Abbot Otmar Zinke started the current building in 1708 and
entrusted it to the best artists of his time. The basilica is a large,
highly baroque building with a long chancel according to the plans of
Kryštof Dientzenhofer. The basilica was consecrated in 1715, the entire
construction lasted until 1740. During the Prussian siege of Prague in
1757, the church served as a stable and infirmary. The abbot of Břevnov
František Štěpán Rautenstrauch (1734–1785) was significantly involved in
the reforms of universities, legal and priestly education, and thus the
monastery was not behind the reforms of Emperor Joseph II. cancelled. In
the following period, however, it rather declined, until in the 1930s it
was reformed by monks from the Belgian Chevetogne. Anastáz Opasek then
became prior, abbot from 1947. In 1950 he was arrested and imprisoned
for a long time, the monastery was dissolved in 1951 and the monks
deported. Until 1990, the Archive of the Ministry of the Interior was
here. The so-called the small or Sartori's convent was used by the StB
under the cover name "Assembly Institute". After the return of Abbot
Opaska, the monastery and the church were thoroughly repaired and
elevated to an archabery in the years 1991-1993 with the great support
of foreign, especially German, monasteries. In 1997, Pope John Paul II
visited it. Currently (year 2019), 13 monks live in the monastery.
Anastasius I (Astrik) (perhaps also Radla, 993–997)
Pavel Bavor of
Nečtiny (1289/1290–1332)
Thomas Sartorius (1663–1700)
Otmar Daniel
Zinke (1700–1738)
Benno II. Löbel (1738–1751)
Stephan
Rautenstrauch (1773–1785)
Jan Nepomuk Rotter (1844–1886)
Bruno
Čtvrečka (1887–1922)
Dominik Prokop (1929–1939)
Jan Anastáz Opasek
(prior from 1938–1947, abbot from 1947–1999, archbishop from 1993)
Petr Prokop Siostrzonek (prior since 1999, archbishop since 2017)
Today's baroque buildings of the monastery, including the church of
St. The marques, the new convent and the prelature mainly date from
1708–1740. They were built on older foundations according to the plans
of architect Kryštof Dientzenhofer and under his construction
supervision. The former entrance axis of the monastery is today divided
by Bělohorská and Patočkova streets. When Pionýrů avenue (today's
Patočkovy Street) was broken through in 1952-1953, the buildings of the
monastery's brewery and the malthouse with the outer enclosure wall fell
victim. Statues of St. Benedict above the entrance gate and St. John of
Nepomuck in the northwest corner of the courtyard are by Karel Josef
Hiernle, the other sculptures on the facade come from the workshop of
Matěj Václav Jäckel.
Saint Margaret's Church
The church
dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch was built in 1708–1715. Its wavy
facade corresponds to the formation of the architectural mass based on
the principle of intersecting ellipsoids. In the attic, there are
statues of saints of the order by Matěj Václav Jäckl, and on the south
wall a copy of the tombstone of the Blessed Vintír embedded in a baroque
illusion painting.
Kryštof's son Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer designed the interior and
decoration of the church. On the main altar, a wooden gilded statue of
the patroness of the temple, St. Margaret, by Lusatian sculptor Matěj
Václav Jäckel. The altar canteen facing the people was designed by the
sculptor and restorer Karel Stádník. In the choir there are two rows of
baroque monastic pews, the so-called stalls, with cut figures of
Benedictine patrons in the extension. On the south side, on the late
Baroque altar of the Virgin Mary, there is a Benedictine image of this
order's patroness of the Benedictines with the baby Jesus in her arms. A
glazed Rococo reliquary with the humerus of St. Margaret of Antioch, who
was worshiped as the patroness of rain and good harvest, a pilgrimage
with a procession was held here every year on July 14. St. Margaret's
silver Gothic Plenary is kept in a safe.
On the illusively
painted side altars in the nave are seven large paintings by Peter
Brandl from 1715–1719. On the north (left) side from the entrance are
paintings of the Death of St. Wenceslas, Crucifixion and Meeting of St.
Vojtěch with prince Boleslav II. at the well. On the south side Transfer
of the relics of St. Otmara, Death of St. Benedict among the religious
and on the third altar two images one above the other: St. Prokop and
the Death of the Hermit Vintíř (with the participation of Prince
Břetislav I and Bishop Šebíř). The frescoes on the vault were painted by
Jan Jakub Stevens. On the bark is a valuable baroque prospect organ with
figural woodcarvings of playing angels from 1724. In 2010, a new organ
machine was installed in the old cabinet. On the south wall of the
church choir is a stone early Gothic tombstone of the blessed Šumava
hermit and diplomat Vintíř, who died in 1045 and was revered as the
patron saint of the Czech and Bavarian Benedictines.
Under the choir of the church, during an archaeological survey in 1965–1968, part of the marl block masonry with half-columns and the floor of the crypt of the three-nave Romanesque basilica from the middle of the 11th century were uncovered.
The upper convent, which adjoins the church on the north side, was
built in 1709–1719 under the leadership of Kryštof Dientzenhofer. It has
a uniform architectural design and three inner courtyards. A wing with a
summer refectory on the ground floor and a library on the upper floor
extends from the northern tract towards the garden. Halls, ambits and
corridors are decorated with stucco and frescoes by various artists from
the first half of the 18th century. Around the eastern courtyard, which
does not belong to the cloister, are the premises of the prelature
(abbot's seat) on the first floor. The representative halls are
decorated with frescoes, the largest and most famous is the Teresian
Hall in the elevation of the eastern wing, which protrudes above the
roofs of the other buildings. The ceiling fresco in the Teresian Hall
was created in 1727–1728 by the Asamo brothers, Cosmas Damián and Egid
Quirin, depicting the legend of the "Miracle of Saint Vintius". The
hermit, invited to a feast during Lent, did not want to eat meat and did
not want to offend the host. However, the roasted peacock came to life
and flew off the table. The library with original bookcases and a rich
collection of old prints is also valuable.
The old convent, of
which the so-called Sartorius wing (opposite the church to the south)
remained after the reconstruction, was built by Abbot Tomáš Sartorius in
the 1760s. After their arrival in 1990-1992, it served the Benedictine
community headed by abbot Anastáz Opask as a convent, today it is
adapted to the Adalbert Hotel.
The complex of farm buildings
includes a former granary, administrative buildings and a sheepfold,
which now serves as a monastery tavern.
The prospect of the cascading baroque garden with a recently reconstructed orangery, orchard, hornbeam trellis and gazebo, as well as two ponds date from the second quarter of the 18th century and are only a smaller part of the former area, which was partly occupied by the Petřiny housing estate. In the lower part of the garden stands the Baroque Vojtěška pavilion with the spring of the Brusnice stream, above the spring there is a Gothic cross vault, the only remnant of the former Gothic monastery. The lower part of the garden, where there is also the Josefka gloriette, the Lazarka chapel, a system of baroque tunnels through which water was introduced to the monastery, a terrace with fountains and a staircase, was completely renovated in 2010-2013, and the former orangery serves as an exhibition hall. In the upper part of the garden (orchard), which is separated by a fence, old fruit trees are being replaced by new ones (all more than 1,000 trees are to be cut down). The orchard is adjacent to the former monastery windmill, and the Na Větrník track named after it.
A number of well-known personalities (such as Jan Patočka or Karel Kryl) rest in the nearby Břevnov Cemetery. The church held a funeral ceremony with a funeral mass for, for example, Professor Jan Sokol, but also for Jaroslav Seifert (1986[15], buried in Kralupy nad Vltavou) or for the controversial businessman Václav Kočka Jr. (2008, buried in Řepy).
Abbot Tomáš Sartorius was the donor of the 24th chapel of the Holy Way from Prague to Stará Boleslav. The chapel was built by the Jesuits in the years 1674–1690, in the upper corner of the niche was the name of the builder and his coat of arms.
The monastery and its crypt appear in several depictions:
on the
background of an oil painting of patrons of the order of St. Boniface,
Benedict and Alexius from 1638
baroque design drawings and plans by
Pavel Ignác Bayer and Kryštof Dientzenhofer;
on the background of the
oil painting St. Marquette with a dragon, around 1680
Baroque
anonymous copper engraving from 1678;
baroque copper engraving by
Antonín Birckhardt based on a drawing by Jan Josef Dietzler from 1740
steel engraving by Josef Rybička from the mid-19th century
photographs by Josef Sudek (e.g. a set of 15 postcards "Benediktine
Abbey in Břevnov", published by intaglio before 1945 by Václav Neubert)
silver commemorative medal, issued for the monastery's millennium in
1993
on a postage stamp of the Czech Republic issued on April 14,
1993 with a nominal value of CZK 4.