Rohan Vault, Noble family tomb at Holy Trinity Church in Loukov, Czech Republic
The Rohan Vault is a neo-Gothic burial chapel of dressed sandstone blocks attached to the east side of the Holy Trinity Church in Loukov, with a north-south plan and a saddle roof. Its three-axis east facade has a triangular gable, a pointed portal bearing the Rohan coat of arms, round windows and six buttresses topped with pinnacles. Inside, six bays of shallow vaulting rest on two central pillars; steps lead west into the old vault beneath the presbytery and north into the New Vault.
The Rohan family, originally from Brittany, fled France during the Revolution; in 1820 Karel Alan Gabriel of Rohan-Guémené bought the Svijany estate with Sychrov Castle and Loukov. In 1824 he had the older Schlik tomb under the presbytery cleared, walled up its entrance from the church and built a new family vault with its own eastern entrance. After his death his daughter Berta added a neo-Gothic funeral chapel in 1836–1840, funded by an endowment set up at Sychrov on 10 August 1840. The vault was later extended, with the New side vault built under Kamil Rohan and last adapted in 1908 under Prince Alain.
The vault holds 41 members of the Rohan family, whose Bohemian line began with Henri Louis Rohan (1745–1809); six princes headed the family in Bohemia between 1808 and 1945. A white marble slab in the old chamber lists the first burials: Louisa Aglaja, Jindřich, Karel Alan, Berta, Viktor, Ludvík, Marie Louisa Josefina and Gasparina. Alain Rohan (1893–1976), the last owner of Sychrov, was deported in 1945 and buried in Vienna.
Access to the vault depends on the church's opening hours, as it is located within the Holy Trinity Church building itself. Checking ahead about visiting conditions is wise, since the chamber may have limited accessibility or seasonal closures.
The vault was looted several times in the second half of the 20th century. In the New Vault, Kamil Rohan and his wife Adléta lie under bronze floor plates; Adléta's plate, from Otto Sandtner's Prague workshop, is shaped like a Gothic portal with a lamb in the tympanum.
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