Santini and the Baroque – Žďár nad Sázavou, Zelená hora

Fact of the Czech figure „Culture in the Era of Renaissance and Baroque”

Part of the „Legacy of the Jagiellonians and Habsburgs dynasties” topic

Soaring above the town of Žďár nad Sázavou, in the vicinity of the historical border between Bohemia and Moravia, stands the pilgrimage church of St. John of Nepomuk on Zelená Hora. In 1994, it was included on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The impressive building, designed by the renowned architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel, is one of the most notorious Baroque structures in the Czech Republic.  Construction of the church began shortly after the canonization of St. John of Nepomuk and took just two years (1770-1772). Both the church and its surrounding cloister are built out in the shape of a five-pointed star.

In addition to Santini-Aichel, other distinguished Baroque architects worked in the Czech lands, including Kryštof and Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, František Maxmilián Kaňka, and Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach. Their work set up trends across Europe and significantly influenced the appearance of the Czech landscape.