Zvonice, Baroque wooden bell tower in Řepníky, Czech Republic
Zvonice is a Baroque wooden bell tower on a low square stone base in the cemetery beside the church of St Lawrence in Řepníky. Its frame is clad in vertical boards with battens, with a single-leaf shutter on the east side, and it is topped by a steep pyramidal shingle roof crowned by a small spire with a finial. Inside, a braced timber stand carries the bells.
The wooden bell tower was probably built in 1782–1783 together with the neighbouring Baroque church of Saint Lawrence. In 1677 the filial church was recorded as having three bells: one from 1513, one from 1506 and one from 1679. The bells were requisitioned during the First World War; the 1506 bell survives, and a fragment of the large bell is kept in a school collection.
The bell tower stands in the cemetery beside the Baroque church of Saint Lawrence, and the two were probably built together in 1782–1783. Three bells hung here by 1677; the oldest surviving one, cast in 1506, is 0.8 m tall and wide and bears a relief of Saint John. The large bell of 1513 was melted down in the First World War, and a fragment of it is kept in the school collection.
The interior is closed to the public, but the exterior provides good opportunities for photography and observation of the architectural details. Walking around the tower from different angles reveals its proportions and construction techniques.
The surviving bell is the one cast in 1506, 0.8 m tall and wide, bearing a relief of Saint John; the 1513 bell and a 1679 bell were requisitioned in World War I. A fragment of the large bell is kept in a school collection.
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