Chapel of St. John Sarkander in Olomouc

The two-storey building of the Neo-Baroque Chapel of St. John Sarkander is topped with a dome and a lantern opening. Daylight enters through the lantern spire to the oratory and from there to the basement, achieving an impressive lighting effect.

Exhibited in the basement is the torture rack from Sarkander’s time. The chapel was built on the site of the former city jail in which Jan Sarkander was interrogated and tortured in 1620. The Protestant estates accused him of helping with the invasion of Moravia by the Polish Catholic king. However, he did not violate the secrecy of confession during the torture and Pope John Paul II declared him a saint in 1995 in Olomouc. The close surroundings of the chapel are among the most picturesque corners of Olomouc. The adjacent double staircase is decorated by the statue of St. John of Nepomuk and in the niche in the corner there is a statue of St. John Sarkander himself.