Nová Říše, Premonstratensian monastery in Nová Říše, Czech Republic.
Nová Říše is a Premonstratensian abbey located in the village of the same name in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic. The complex groups a baroque church, residential wings arranged around courtyards, and a library holding old manuscripts and documents.
The abbey was founded in the 13th century and grew over the following centuries through several building phases, including a broad baroque reconstruction in the late 17th century. In the 20th century it was seized by the communist regime and put to other uses, before the monastic community was able to return after 1989.
The abbey church is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul; its interior holds frescoes by Jan Lukáš Kracker painted in 1766–1767. The choir stalls date from 1696 and the pulpit, carved by a master named Arbeith, from 1700, with reliefs of the four evangelists. The side chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, holding relics of St. Candida, was a place of meditation for the poet and local teacher Otokar Březina, who taught in Nová Říše from 1888 to 1901.
The abbey sits in a small village, so arriving by your own vehicle is the most practical option. Some parts of the complex remain reserved for the active monastic community, so it is worth checking in advance which areas are open to visitors.
The abbey library holds books and manuscripts that were hidden or moved during the communist period to prevent them from being lost or destroyed. Some of these works were returned to their original location after 1989, giving the collection a history of its own that runs alongside the history of the building.
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