Church of Saint Lawrence, Gothic religious monument in Vysoké Mýto, Czech Republic
The Church of Saint Lawrence is a triple-nave High Gothic building of cut stone with two towers on its facade and an open porch with a triangular gable between them. Its long chancel has three vaulted bays and a five-sided apse with external buttresses; the main and south naves carry cross vaults, the north nave a star vault. A massive Renaissance belfry from 1583 stands south of the church.
A stone three-nave church was built at the end of the 13th century on the site of an older church, retaining its south nave and tower. Most of the present structure dates from around 1375 and was restored after a fire in 1461. After another fire in 1774, the main altar with Peter Brandl's painting was brought from Sedlec Monastery. A regothicization in 1875–1904 replaced the Baroque vaults with neo-Gothic ones.
The church's interior is covered by a Secession fresco cycle by painter Karel Vítězslav Mašek, funded by Hermenegild Jireček and his family, whose portraits appear on the walls despite the rule against depicting people at a place of worship. The parish is led by dean Pavel Mistr, in office since 1 February 2008.
The church stands in Vysoké Mýto-Město, with its two facade towers facing the square and the massive Renaissance bell tower of 1583, now unused, standing south of the building. The nave reaches 21.3 m in height, the towers 67 m, and the church is 53 m long. Roofs were repaired between 2000 and 2005.
The interior walls and ceiling are covered by Art Nouveau frescoes by painter Karel Vítězslav Mašek, funded by Hermenegild Jireček and his family, whose portraits appear on the wall despite the rules on celebrating God.
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