Monastery in Svatý Jan pod Skalou, Benedictine monastery in Svatý Jan pod Skalou, Czech Republic.

The Monastery in Svatý Jan pod Skalou stands against a limestone cliff, its early Baroque Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist begun in 1657 to Carlo Lurago's design. The church connects directly to the cave of the hermit Saint Ivan, which holds a travertine chamber with dripstone decoration, the abbots' crypt and old gravestones. Beside the church, below the cave window, flows the spring of Saint Ivan.

According to legend, a chapel founded by Prince Bořivoj stood here; in 1030 Prince Břetislav I gave it to the Benedictine monastery of Ostrov u Davle, which founded a daughter monastery here in the mid-11th century. A provostry followed in 1310, and after the Hussites destroyed Ostrov in 1420 the surviving monks moved here, definitively transferring in 1517. The monastery was dissolved under Joseph II.

The monastery's pilgrim tradition centres on the relics of Saint Ivan, rediscovered in 1584, which drew processions of up to 6,000 pilgrims on the last Sunday in June; emperors Matthias, Ferdinand II, Ferdinand III and Leopold I took part. The pilgrimages were suppressed under communism in the mid-20th century.

The church interior opens to visitors from April through October, with regular hours during summer months. Wear appropriate clothing for the site's exposed location at the cliff base, as winds can be strong.

The cave church holds a travertine chamber with original dripstone decoration, and the abbey's bells include the 1404 "Mother of God" bell, one of the oldest in Bohemia, found among the ruins of Ostrov monastery after the Hussite raid. Two bells were removed and melted down in 1917; replacements came in 1994.