Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Catholic church building in Kosmonosy, Czech Republic.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is an early Baroque Roman Catholic parish church in Kosmonosy, about 200 metres north of the castle and linked to the former Piarist college. It has a rectangular hall nave with two pairs of side chapels, a three-part facade with pilasters, and a triangular gable bearing a cartouche with the founder Humprecht Černín's coat of arms and the year 1674.
The church was built between 1670 and 1674 to plans by Francesco Caratti, with the Sobotka builder J. Špánek and stonemasons Santino Aichel and F. Ceresola taking part; it was finished around 1700 under Heřman Černín of Chudenice. Its facade still carries the founder Humprecht Černín's coat of arms and the year 1674. Between 1995 and 2014, 4.5 million CZK from the architectural heritage rescue programme went into repairs.
The church serves as a place of worship and gathering for the local community, where regular religious services and celebrations take place. People come here to practice their Catholic faith and share spiritual moments together.
The building is located along Lípy street and is easy to reach on foot when exploring Kosmonosy. Visitors should check opening hours for prayers and private visits beforehand to make sure they can enter.
The Piarist college adjoining the church, built by F. Ceresola in 1688–1694 to plans by B. Maderna, became an institution for the mentally ill in 1869 and is a psychiatric hospital today. Its south wing has two square towers with onion domes flanking the church.
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