Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, Baroque church in Pohořelice, Czech Republic

The Church of Saint John of Nepomuk is a single-nave Baroque building in Pohořelice, built on a Latin cross plan with two rectangular side chapels instead of a transept. Its yellow and white facade features a stone portal with the coat of arms of Bishop Jakob Ernst of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn and is topped by a tower with a bell and clock. A sacristy stands on the epistle side, and a now-closed passage once linked the church to the adjacent chateau.

The church was built in the first half of the 18th century for Jakub Arnošt of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, Bishop of Olomouc, who consecrated it himself on 15 May 1740. The builder Kryštof Maywald designed it at a cost of 20,000 guilders. Shallow foundations of about 1.22 m forced the walls apart, so before 1830 the church was tied with iron anchors and its roof lowered and covered with iron sheet. In the 1960s the unsuited tower was rebuilt to a design by Augustin Žlábek, and in 2019–2020 the roofs of tower and nave were renewed with copper sheet.

The church is linked to the adjacent chateau by a short neck passage through which the nobility walked to the oratory for Mass; for security reasons this route is no longer passable. The main altar retable holds two paintings: below, Saint John of Nepomuk handing the stole to the Virgin Mary by Josef Stern, above, Saint John the Baptist by an unknown painter, the central figures looking in different directions. Between them hangs the coat of arms of Bishop Jakub Arnošt of Lichtenstein-Kastelkorn, combining the Olomouc diocese shield with his family's smaller shield, a crozier and sword behind it.

The best time to visit is during morning or early afternoon hours when natural light illuminates the interior well. It is worth checking with local authorities beforehand to confirm access or to arrange a guided tour if available.

The church is not oriented eastward as Christian tradition usually requires: its presbytery faces north-northwest, likely because of the terrain and the already standing chateau. A narrow neck once linked the church to the chateau, letting the nobility pass to the oratory; it is now closed for safety.