Church of Saint Bartholomew, Gothic church in Pardubice-Staré Město, Czech Republic
The Church of Saint Bartholomew stands at the corner of Republic Square and Kostelní Street, oriented east to west. It consists of a five-sided presbytery with a sacristy, a wide three-aisled hall with a ribbed vault on four pillars, and a modern western vestibule. A steep saddle roof carries a tall sanctus bell turret, and a Renaissance portal of 1519 on the north side is reached by a bridge over an artificial pool.
The church is first documented in a papal bull of Boniface VIII from 1295, when it served the Cyriac order that came to Pardubice around 1256. Hussites burned it in 1421, and after a fire in 1507 Vilém of Pernštejn began the late Gothic rebuilding with a wide three-nave hall and a tall saddle roof. A further fire in 1538 led to a small reconstruction with a three-armed tribune.
The church served as the second burial place of the Pernštejn family in the 16th century. In the presbytery stands the tomb of Vojtěch of Pernštejn with a life-size figure, where his body was laid in 1534, and beside it the Renaissance tombstone of Žofie Těšínská. The three-armed tribune was used for sacred music and singing during services.
The church stands at the corner of náměstí Republiky and Kostelní street, just outside the historic core. A masonry bridge crosses an artificial water feature to reach the decorated Renaissance portal of 1519 on the north side; a second portal faces south.
The church's oldest surviving object is a Gothic-shaped baptismal font from 1515, originally placed in the Black Chapel of the Holy Cross, a south-aisle chapel built in 1733–1736 and demolished in 1912. The same chapel held a Calvary group made in 1736–1737.
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