Church of Saint Lawrence, Religious monument in Ledenice, Czech Republic

The Church of Saint Lawrence is a single-nave building of rough-cut stone on a slight rise on the northwest side of Ledenice's square. It has a rectangular plan ending in a square early Gothic presbytery with two corner buttresses, a sacristy on its north side and a porch added in 1756 on the south side of the nave. A two-storey square tower from 1776 stands at the east end, topped by a sheet-metal onion dome with a lantern and a late Baroque finial carrying a 190 cm wrought-iron cross.

Founded at the end of the 1300s as an early Gothic church, it replaced a wooden chapel from the time Ledenice was established; it is documented as a parish church by 1359. An altar stone was consecrated in 1422. A nave was added in 1699, and after a fire a new roof frame was built in 1756 for 1607 guilders and 33 kreuzers. The Baroque tower followed in 1776, about 25 m high, built in 114 days with 36,000 bricks fired in the Ledenice brickworks.

The parish district has included Ledenice and the villages of Mysletín, Ohrazení, Ohrazeníčko, Radostice, Růžov, Svatá Voršila, Trocnov, Zaliny and Zborov since the late 18th century. From the 17th century until 1738 the parish also administered seven villages belonging to the filial Church of the Assumption in Štěpánovice. Regular services are still held here.

The location is normally accessible to visitors, but it is advisable to check ahead since regular religious services take place. Plan your visit outside these times to explore the building in peace.

The tower's copper finial holds a copper tube in which documents have been placed since 1776, usually when the church or tower was repaired. The tower itself took 114 days to build and used 36,000 bricks fired in the Ledenice brickworks; the carpenter Matěj Doležal, then mayor, worked on it.