Church of Saint Gall, Baroque church in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.
The Church of Saint Gall is a single-nave Gothic-Renaissance building with a semicircular presbytery, a northern sacristy and a western prismatic tower added in 1735 above the Krajíř tomb. A Baroque south porch dates from the 18th century, and the south wall carries a Renaissance portal with a carved wreath in the tympanum.
Founded in 1539 as a cemetery church for the Krajíř of Krajek, who were buried in a tomb beneath it; the Unity of the Brethren bishop Jan Augusta was interred here in 1572. After the Battle of White Mountain the tomb was damaged, its tin coffins melted into altar candlesticks. The west tower was added in 1735, the south porch in the 18th century, and the church was rebuilt in baroque form in that century.
Since 1997 the church has been leased and cared for by the local congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, which holds Sunday services here from May to October at 10:00. Each June the congregation organises the multi-genre Havloděj festival of theatre and music in the park beside the church, and uses the adjacent caretaker's house for further cultural events.
The church stands by a park in Mladá Boleslav, with the caretaker's house next door used for cultural events. The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren has held it in long-term lease since 1997 and holds Sunday services at 10:00 from May to October; the building is otherwise normally closed.
After the Battle of White Mountain, the tomb of the Krajíř family was damaged amid religious hostility; the tin coffins were melted down and turned into altar candlesticks, and the tomb has stood empty since. About 30 Renaissance and early Baroque tombstones from 1567 onward remain on the outer walls.
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