Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Gothic church within Dominican monastery in Jihlava, Czech Republic.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a church building within the Dominican monastery in Jihlava that combines Gothic and Baroque design. The structure displays stone walls and religious ornaments throughout its interior and exterior.
Founded alongside Jihlava's new upper town in the 1240s, the church is traditionally dated to 1247, when the Dominicans are said to have settled; a 1257 charter naming prior Eberhard is the first firm record. A fire damaged it in 1353, and the nave's four piers and cross vaults date to around 1380. Joseph II dissolved the monastery in 1784, after which the army used the church as a barracks and storehouse until 1947.
Since 1947 the church has been leased to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, which still holds services here; it is no longer a Catholic building. The interior was long divided by a partition at the triumphal arch, removed only during the 2008 reconstruction.
Access is through the main entrance on the monastery grounds and viewing is best during regular services or special events. It is helpful to check ahead for current opening times, as the space primarily serves religious purposes.
A fire on the evening of 29 May 1513, started by Dominicans frying doughnuts with oil, destroyed almost the whole monastery and the church; its small tower burned and was never rebuilt, and some sixty town houses burned too.
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