Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Nicholas, Minor basilica in Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech Republic
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Nicholas is a church in Žďár nad Sázavou, originally Gothic and rebuilt in Baroque style with contributions by Jan Blažej Santini. It is 78 metres long and 20 metres wide, with a three-aisled nave, transept and polygonal presbytery; the west facade is Baroque but the main portal is Gothic.
The site was founded in the 13th century as a Cistercian monastery and developed into an important religious center over time. The church received official recognition from Rome as a minor basilica in 2009, confirming its historical and spiritual importance.
The church keeps the early Gothic statue of the Well Virgin Mary, brought by monks fleeing the Hussites from Pomuk and now on a side altar in the southern aisle. In the south chapel of the Annunciation, Řehoř Theny's sculpture group shows the archangel Gabriel announcing the birth to Mary. A mosaic cycle of the founding families in the northern aisle was made by painter Jaroslav Šerých in 2005.
The church stands in the centre of the former monastery grounds, its west façade facing the entrance gate; the convent buildings once lay to the south. The interior was restored between 2005 and 2008, and the long nave measures 78 m by 20 m. The south portal to the cloister garden, walled up for two centuries, was reopened during that restoration.
In the presbytery, restorers in 2008 uncovered a fresco of a procession of knights kneeling before the Virgin Mary. At its head are Boček of Obřany and King George of Poděbrady, each holding a model of the church as founder and restorer of the monastery.
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