Unique transformations of Czech and Moravian monasteries open new perspectives for those who seek an unparalleled experience. We would like to take you on a tour where you can try to make a unique hat from nettles, visit the town where Sigmund Freud was born, or sleep in a cell like a monk. While wandering through Czechia, you can also try some excellent monastic beer and wine.
Sleep in a Cell next to the Shroud of Turin
This east Bohemian monastery is still owned by the Benedictine Order. They pushed for its restoration and today, you can visit the stylish café, stay in a monk cell or just relax in the beautifully restored monastery garden in Broumov. The monastery also offers a few guided tours, along which you can see the splendid library or the rare copy of the Shroud of Turin.
Sigmund Freud and Nettle Hats
The former Piarist Monastery in Příbor, the town where famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was born, houses rare medieval books as well as a museum. You can learn how to make a hat from nettles or even from mushrooms. Combine the visit to the monastery with a tour of the birth house of the famous scientist.Three in One!
When travelling to South Bohemia, to the town of Český Krumlov, you simply must visit the unique area that links three monasteries – a Minorite monastery, a convent of the Poor Clares and a Beguine convent – in the centre of the town. Besides exhibitions and accompanying programmes, the area has an interactive exposition of human skills that introduces crafts, traditional knowledge of the Middle Ages and the life of the nobility in the Middle Ages. You can see how heavy a chain mail is, how castles were heated or what perfumes they used five centuries ago. You can mix an herbal tea and bath salts, try to write with a goose quill, examine a large model of the historic centre of Český Krumlov and learn about the history of orders and the structural development of the monastery area.
Off to Chancellor Metternich’s Estate
Beautiful monastery buildings, designed by the best architects of their time, were erected in the previous millennium in Plasy in West Bohemia. Today, the area is being repaired and new guided tours are on the way: for example, the one on the first floor of the New Prelacy will present the activities of the aristocratic House of Metternich in Plasy. You can also visit the former abbot’s garden; the abbey should open to the public in January 2023. And when in the area, do not miss the Architectural Heritage Centre, an interesting exposition of the National Technical Museum, set up in the repaired administrative part of the monastery. Learn how our ancestors used to build and what building methods they used. The museum also provides an opportunity to touch various building materials and to try basic static principles, used to this day.
To a Monastery for the Best Moravian Wine
The Louka Monastery in Znojmo in Moravia used to be one of the largest monasteries in the Czech lands. It was going through a reconstruction when it was abolished and so it has never been finished. The Monastery houses the Museum of Wine Growing and Cooperage, a gallery of paintings, a stone collection and workshops for ancient crafts and restoration methods. A part of the buildings are used by Znovín Znojmo, a wine producer, as their wine shop. You can taste the best wine grown and made in the Moravian vineyards.The New Generation Museum Tells Ancient Stories
The monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou in the Vysočina region was converted into a chateau. If you are looking for a place that connect living history with nature and modern elements, you won’t be disappointed if you choose to come here. You can look forward to the New Generation Museum that tells the story of the former Cistercian monastery, almost 800 years old. The unique multimedia elements will take you right into the centre of events! The chateau also houses a permanent exhibition of Baroque paintings and sculptures, as well as the Gallery of the House of Kinsky.The Gothic Convent of St. Agnes in Prague Full of Art
This Gothic convent can be found in the centre of the Old Town by River Vltava. The convent was abolished in the eighteenth century by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and today it is used by the National Gallery for expositions of unique collections of medieval art. Thanks to that you can admire Gothic art in an authentic Gothic space! You will see Czech and European medieval masters, such as the works of Master Theodoric or Lucas Cranach the Elder. The haptic exposition of castings of sculptures of the Czech medieval art from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century is also interesting and you will find it on the ground floor of the gallery.
Hostinné
The town of Hostinné is situated in the Podkrkonoší area in East Bohemia. The Baroque area of the former Franciscan monastery with the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is unique and has been carefully reconstructed. You can visit the Gallery of Ancient Art with a collection of copies of ancient sculptures from 1912. The collection provides a comprehensive view of the development of ancient sculpture from the end of the 7th century BC to the 2nd century AD.The Second Largest Czech Gallery in Kutná Hora
Look for the Jesuit College in the centre of the central Bohemian town of Kutná Hora. Today, in the shade of the St. Barbara Cathedral, you will find GASK – the Central Bohemian Regional Gallery – with splendid collections. The permanent exposition is called The State of Mind and as the title suggests, it is not a typical exposition. It is based on a broad spectrum of emotional life and ideas of people, and you can find expositions entitled, for example, Solitude, Friendship or Tension. GASK is the second largest gallery in the Czech Republic so you can easily spend a whole afternoon there!
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