Church of Saint Anne, Abbey church in Holešov, Czech Republic
The Church of Saint Anne is a single-nave Baroque building, 36 m long and 13.5 m wide, with a semicircular presbytery and a tall prismatic tower. A four-sided sacristy with an oratory above adjoins the north wall, and the Chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian stands symmetrically on the other side. The west facade has a projecting tower with the main entrance, and the tower is topped by a bell roof with a sun symbol.
The church began as a 16th-century Bohemian Brethren prayer house, to which a Renaissance tower was added in 1584. After the Jesuits arrived, Ladislav Popel of Lobkovice had it converted to a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Anne, consecrated on 15 May 1616 by Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein, with Jan Sarkander appointed parish priest. Count Franz Anton von Rottal had it rebuilt in 1742–1748 by builder Thomas Sturm the Elder, and the Trinitarians took over the consecrated church on 26 July 1748.
The church is a filial church of the Roman Catholic parish of Holešov in the Archdiocese of Olomouc. The Trinitarians, installed in 1748, pledged to celebrate two Masses daily: one for living members of the Rottal family in Saint Anne's, the other for deceased members in the Black Chapel of the Assumption church. Since 2020 the oratory holds a memorial hall to Saint John Sarkander, with documents, paintings and artefacts from his era.
The location sits at Náměstí Svaté Anny in the town center and is easy to reach on foot from other historical sites. Visitors should remember this is an active place of worship and should behave respectfully when inside.
The Trinitarians, installed in 1748, pledged two daily Masses: one for living members of the Rottal family in Saint Anne's, the other for the family's dead in the Black Chapel at the Church of the Assumption. The order was dissolved in 1783 under Josephinian reforms, and the convent became housing for the poor.
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