Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary, Baroque church in Nestanice, Czech Republic
The Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary is a baroque church building in Nestanice featuring intricately crafted stone surfaces on both exterior and interior walls. The structure displays typical baroque characteristics with ornamental details throughout the entire edifice.
Count Karel Filip Buquoy founded the church after surviving a shipwreck in 1685, which he attributed to a copy of the Virgin of Foy. His son Emanuel laid the foundation stone in 1692, but construction was delayed four years for lack of ecclesiastical permission. The church was consecrated in 1704.
The church is known for its first Saturday pilgrimages, begun in 1988 and held monthly since 1989, with themed Saturdays such as the Three Kings in January and All Souls' in November. A main Mass is still held on the Sunday on or after the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
The church stands on Lomec hill at 652 m, about 5 km north of Netolice in the Libějovice cadastre; the sandstone for its walls came from the quarry that gave the hill its name. A former hunting lodge built in 1709–1710 by Albert Buquoy stands nearby, later a parish house and since 1971 home to the Congregation of the Grey Sisters. A separate bell tower holds three bells, the oldest cast in 1661 for Svatá Hora.
The main altar is a scaled-down copy of Bernini's papal altar in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, carved by Linz woodcarver Jan Wauscher. A baldachin type with a suspended tabernacle, it is said to exist elsewhere only in St. Peter's and in Vittoria, Spain.
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