Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Gothic church in Blatná, Czech Republic.
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a 37-metre-long, 16-metre-high Gothic church built between 1444 and 1515. Its hall nave is vaulted with a diamond (sklípková) vault carried on three slender columns, and nine Gothic windows with flame tracery each have a different pattern. A separate bell tower, originally Baroque from 1723 and rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style in 1835–36, stands in front.
A Romanesque church founded by the Bavorové ze Strakonic around 1290 stood here; its square sacristy survives. The Lvové z Rožmitálu built the Gothic church between 1444 and 1515, with Master Staněk adding the two-nave hall and its diamond vault. It was consecrated on 8 September 1515. In 1764 Alžběta Serényiová added the six-arch ambulatory, and a fire in 1834 damaged the church and its surroundings.
The church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and belongs to the Blatná parish within the České Budějovice diocese. Its furnishings recall noble patrons: the Rožmitál and Serényi families' tombstones were set into the walls in 1934, and the main altar painting is by local painter Jan Hoffmann.
The church stands on the site of a Romanesque predecessor, with its main entrance now through the south porch; the separate bell tower, rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style after a fire, served as a gate to the former churchyard. The church is oriented with the altar to the east and the main entrance to the west. The cemetery around the church was abolished in 1780, and in 1764 Alžběta Serényiová had a six-arch ambulatory added.
The vault of the main nave rests on three slender columns set on the central axis, but the apex of the triumphal arch follows the presbytery's axis instead, so an asymmetry appears above the arch. The sacristy preserves a coat of arms of Bavor ze Strakonic.
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