The churches around the Broumov Monastery are a monument of a unique construction and economic development, initiated by Abbot Otmar Zinke – a capable representative of the Benedictine Břevnov-Broumov abbey. Despite the necessary austerity of design, the churches bear the seal of uniqueness and creative originality of their creators – the father and son Dientzenhofers.
The Broumov region is in one of the northeast elongations of Czechia by the border with Poland. The local countryside is beautiful. In the surroundings, you can admire the natural beauty of Teplice and Adršpach rock cities. The Broumov Monastery is the historical centre of the region, dating back to the 14th century. The monastery used to own a vast area of land with the local villages. At the beginning of the 18th century, Abbot Otmar Zinke decided to build new churches in the villages managed by the monastery.
You can visit the following Baroque churches: St. Prokop in Bezděkov nad Metují, St. Mary Magdalene in Božanov, St. Wenceslaus in Broumov, the Church of All Saints in Heřmánkovice, St. Barbara in Otovice, St. James the Greater in Ruprechtice, St. Margaret in Šonov, St. Michael in Verneřovice and St. Anna in Vižnov.
The uniqueness of the buildings and landscaping is great and, therefore, the authorities are striving to have the churches in Broumov registered in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.
A remarkable construction project
The churches in the Broumov Group were built within the area of the monastery estate according to the designs of Christoph Dientzenhofer and his son Kilian Ignaz. There is no doubt that they are rightly considered to be Baroque jewels of the region and each church is an architectural gem. The construction was initiated due to the unsatisfactory network of old wooden churches. All the churches were built within quite a short time period, between 1709 and 1743. Thanks to the Abbot’s effort, not only Baroque churches, but also small sacral monuments in the countryside were built, including crosses, sculptures, statues, Stations of the Cross, etc.You can visit the following Baroque churches: St. Prokop in Bezděkov nad Metují, St. Mary Magdalene in Božanov, St. Wenceslaus in Broumov, the Church of All Saints in Heřmánkovice, St. Barbara in Otovice, St. James the Greater in Ruprechtice, St. Margaret in Šonov, St. Michael in Verneřovice and St. Anna in Vižnov.
The uniqueness of the buildings and landscaping is great and, therefore, the authorities are striving to have the churches in Broumov registered in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.
Address
Educational and cultural centre Broumov Monastery, Klášterní 1, 550 01 Broumov
