Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Baroque church in Ročov, Czech Republic.
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Dolní Ročov is a single-nave Baroque church built by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer in 1746–1750. Its facade carries two towers with rounded corners and stepped domes, a central risalit with a niche statue of the Madonna, and statues of St Augustine and St Monica from the workshop of Ignác František Weiss. The narrower square presbytery is vaulted with a dome on pendentives.
A Gothic church from the late 14th century stood here until it was replaced by the present Baroque building, designed by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer and erected between 1746 and 1750. The monastery it served was Augustinian, founded in 1373 by Albrecht starší z Kolowrat, who gave the community the Gothic Madonna of Ročov.
The church is a regional pilgrimage site of the Področov area, mentioned in the works of Václav Beneš Třebízský. Pilgrims come mainly for the annual pilgrimage, when the Ročovský zdrávas, a hymn composed in honour of the miraculous Madonna, is sung. The Gothic statue of the Virgin, holding bread and a grape in one hand and the Christ Child in the other, stands in a glass case on the main altar.
The church stands in the Ročov valley as part of the former Augustinian monastery complex, with the sacristy on its south side. The nave is entered from the west front, where two towers frame the portal and a niche holds a Madonna statue. Pilgrims gather most numerously for the annual pilgrimage, when the Ročovský zdrávas is sung.
The main altar dates from 1748, with sculpture by František Ignác Weiss. Its columned structure is topped by a Marian crown carried by angels, and the Gothic Madonna of the late 14th century stands in a rococo cabinet beneath the baldachin.
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