Church of Saint Martin in Bošilec, church in Bošilec

The Church of Saint Martin in Bošilec is a stone building with simple forms standing in a quiet village in South Bohemia. The structure has stone walls, a roof covered with old tiles, and a small bell tower, while its interior features a modest altar with religious symbols and simple wooden benches.

The church dates from the 14th century, and its Gothic portals from the end of that century. It was reconsecrated in 1493 and repaired in 1703. A wooden bell tower was replaced in 1836 by the masonry tower that stands today.

The church's most notable fixture is a Rococo pulpit shaped like a large whale, moved here in 1786 from the abolished Church of Saint Barbara near Třeboň. Similar pulpits survive in the Czech Republic only at Kratonohy and Mnichovice. The parish once owned the 16th-century Bošilec Madonna, sold in 1926 to fund a church bell; the statue is now lost.

The church stands in the village monument zone of Bošilec, and the protected complex also takes in the old walled part of the cemetery, the mortuary, the gate and the small gate; the modern stretch of wall is not protected. The building serves as the parish church of the Roman Catholic parish of Bošilec.

The pulpit, moved here in 1786 from the abolished Church of St Barbara near Třeben, is carved in the shape of a massive whale. Only two other pulpits of this design survive in Czechia, at Kratonohy and Mnichovice. The church also once held the 16th-century Bošilec Madonna, sold in 1926 and now lost.