St. Nicolas Church in Louny, Gothic church in Louny, Czech Republic.
St. Nicolas Church is a Gothic structure with three naves supported by external buttressing systems that rise to 60 meters in height. The exterior features pyramid-shaped turrets and rounded arches throughout its composition.
A fire started by a tramp burned the church on 25 March 1517; only part of the 14th-century tower survived. Two councillors sought a design from royal architect Benedikt Rejt in 1519, and the old walls were pulled down from 1523. The shell was finished in 1538, built of sandstone.
The church holds two illuminated graduals tied to its literary brotherhoods: a two-volume Latin gradual from 1530 made in Pavel Mělnický's workshop and a Czech gradual illuminated by Fabián Puléř. The Latin brothers sang with instruments, the Czech brothers a cappella, and the city built them a separate choir loft above the main entrance, demolished in 1625.
The climb to the belfry and gallery involves approximately 180 stairs and rewards visitors with views across the medieval center of Louny. Those planning to ascend should be prepared for the stairs to reach this vantage point.
The tower, the only part surviving the 1517 fire, holds five bells, not two. Above the bell chamber, the watchman's flat displays part of an old papier-mâché nativity scene.
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