Church of Saint Margaret, Baroque church in Šonov, Czech Republic
The Church of Saint Margaret stands on a rise above Šonov, built 1727–1730, probably to a design by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer. Its elongated plan has a 25 m long and 12 m wide nave, a 5 × 5 m chancel, two diagonal two-storey towers with domed tops on the west front facing the Broumov monastery, and six stone-framed entrances.
The church was built between 1727 and 1730 on a hill above the village, on the initiative of Broumov abbot Otmar Zinke and attributed to Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. It replaced the old parish church of St John the Evangelist, which stood in the cemetery and burned down in 1775. Since 2010 it has been a filial church of Broumov.
The church is now a branch of the Broumov parish, and services are no longer held here; Mass takes place in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in the local cemetery. The original parish church of St John the Evangelist stood on that cemetery site and burned down in 1775, after which the parish transferred to St Margaret's.
The church stands on a hill above the village, its front wall facing the Broumov monastery, which is visible from the choir loft and the towers. No services are held here; Mass takes place in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in the local cemetery. The interior was looted in the second half of the 20th century.
A red-brown sandstone pillar built into the cemetery's western wall bears a relief called St. Adalbert: a beardless man seated on a high chair holding a bishop's staff and cross. K. J. Bienenberg mentions a date of 1112, no longer legible; the stone is now in the Broumov museum.
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