Church of Our Lady of Victories in Bílá Hora, Baroque church in Bílá Hora district, Prague, Czech Republic.
The Church of Our Lady of Victories in Bílá Hora is a pilgrimage church whose oldest part is a rectangular chapel from 1622–1624, later enlarged with an octagonal presbytery under a low dome and lantern. An ambulatory with corner chapels surrounds it, and the main south portal carries sculptures of the Angelic Greeting from 1729.
A chapel was built here between 1622 and 1624 to hold the remains of soldiers left unburied after the 1620 Battle of the White Mountain. In 1628 Emperor Ferdinand II, his wife Eleonora and son Ferdinand III attended the laying of the foundation stone for a Servite monastery, into which a commemorative medal was placed; the monastery was never completed. Swedish troops damaged the chapel in 1634, and in 1704 it was rebuilt by the Bavarian mason Michael Hagen.
The name refers to the Battle of White Mountain of 8 November 1620; the high altar holds a copy of the image Maria vom Siege, with which the Carmelite Dominicus a Jesu Maria is said to have encouraged the Catholic troops. The dome fresco of 1728 by Cosmas Damian Asam shows the triumph of the Catholic faith in Bohemia.
The church is normally open to visitors during daytime hours, with specific times varying by day of the week. It helps to watch for active religious services, as these may limit public access during those moments.
The Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, added to the north side of the ambits between 1750 and 1785, copies the aedicule in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Its brick walls are scored with false joints imitating stone blocks, and a crescent on the lantern was replaced in 1902 by a zinc finial with a cross.
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