Church of Saint Nicholas, Gothic church in Velké Meziříčí, Czech Republic.
The Church of Saint Nicholas is a Roman Catholic parish and deanery church on Náměstí square, the oldest church in Velké Meziříčí. It is 47.6 m long, stands at 425 m above sea level, and its square west tower reaches 64 m. The nave was vaulted in the 15th century into a two-aisled hall with dividing columns, and the presbytery has stepped buttresses.
The first written record dates from 1317, when the provost Sobek of Zderaz confirmed a gift from Mařka z Lhoty of three láns in Baliny and liturgical items. The early Gothic north portal, uncovered in 1946–1947, dates the building to the second half of the 13th century. In the 15th century the nave was vaulted into a two-aisled hall and a square tower was completed in 1420, then nearly 80 metres high.
The church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron of children, merchants and people threatened by water, who appears in the window stained glass alongside Saints Cyril and Methodius, Leopold and Procopius. A chalice painted with the year 1479 at the end of the south nave recalls the Hussite period, when Utraquist priests served here before Lutheran clergy took over around 1576.
The church stands on Náměstí, the town square, at 425 m above sea level; the square is pedestrian-friendly. The tower is reached by an external spiral staircase at the junction of the tower and the church's north side, and its sixth floor once held the bell-ringer's and watchman's lodging with a gallery.
The tower served a double purpose from the start: a bell tower for the church and a watchtower for the town. A small flat with a gallery on the sixth floor housed the bell-ringer and night watchman in one person, reached by an outside spiral staircase at the tower's junction with the north side.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,472 contributors worldwide.