Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, UNESCO World Heritage church in Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech Republic.
The Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk is a white-walled church with an elongated octagonal plan, five triangular and five oval chapels around the perimeter, and a dark green bell-shaped dome topped by a spire and cross. Gold stars are mounted on the walls, and tall pointed windows pierce the facade.
Abbot Václav Vejmluva commissioned the church after preserved tissue was found in John of Nepomuk's tomb in St. Vitus Cathedral on 15 April 1719. The foundation stone was laid on 16 May 1720 and the church was consecrated on 27 September 1722, built at the abbot's expense to designs by Jan Santini Aichel. A fire on 16 July 1784 destroyed the roof, which local residents and Matěj Sychra had covered with boards; repairs were permitted in 1792 on condition that a cemetery be moved here.
The hill was renamed Zelená hora by abbot Václav Vejmluva after the hill near Nepomuk, the saint's birthplace. The ambulatory ring around the church, with five pentagonal chapels and five gates, sheltered pilgrims at prayer; its chapel roofs once ended in five pylons symbolising light and eternity.
The church stands on Zelená hora on the edge of Žďár nad Sázavou, near the former Cistercian monastery. A ring of ambits with five pentagonal chapels and five gates surrounds it, giving shelter to walkers; the hill was reforested in the mid-19th century and cleared again from 2006. The cemetery laid out beside the church after 1792 is no longer in use.
The number five governs the layout: five triangular and five oval chapels alternate around the perimeter, and the ambulatory has five pentagonal chapels and five gates. The main altar's five angels, carved by Jan Pavel Čechpauer in 1725–1727, carry a ball with five stars.
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