Chapel of Saint John the Baptist, Religious chapel in Dolní Kounice, Czech Republic.
The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist stands on Náměstí Míru in the Závodí district of Dolní Kounice. It is a small rectangular Renaissance building with surviving Gothic elements, built around the mid-16th century on the town cemetery. Its walls are pierced by five pointed-arch windows, stepped gables rise on the north and south sides, and a wooden bell turret with a cross tops the saddle roof. The white-plastered interior is vaulted with a hřebíková (nail) vault.
The land for a new cemetery was donated to the town by mayor Jan Tišnovský z Cynenberka in the 16th century. Sources date the chapel's construction to the mid-16th century or to 1590. It served as a charnel house and had an annex for the bier and gravedigger's tools. Burials took place here until 1 January 1938; the chapel was badly damaged at the end of World War II, the remains of the old cemetery were removed in 1948, and the chapel was restored in 1958 and repaired in the 1990s.
The chapel stands on the former town cemetery, where burials continued until 1 January 1938, when the new municipal cemetery opened. The remains of the old cemetery, including tombstones, crosses and the boundary wall, were removed in 1948. The building is now owned by the town of Dolní Kounice and is open to the public only during cultural events.
The chapel stands on Náměstí Míru in the Závodí district of Dolní Kounice. It is not open on a regular basis: the public can only enter during cultural events held there. The building belongs to the town of Dolní Kounice.
The chapel served as a mortuary, and a small external pulpit was built into one of its outer walls. Before the First World War its wooden bell turret, the sanktusník, held two bells; the older one was dated 1556.
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