The Monastery and the Church of Minorites

The Church of Minorites

The history of the Monastery of Minorites and the adjacent Church of the Birth of Our Lady has been closely connected with the history of the town of Krnov since the end of the 13th century. According to the tradition, the monastery is supposed to have been started in 1273 during the reign of the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II. The monastery had the greatest significance in the 15th century when it was a residence of the provincial superior of the Czech-Polish ecclesiastical province of the Minorites. In the middle of the 16th century, i.e. during the Reformation, a mint was established in the monastery. In the interior of the monastery, we can still see beautiful frescos by the painter Josef Stern, dating from 1765 to 1766. Both the monastery and the church are situated in the centre of the town. Near them, there is a Greek restaurant serving famous Greek wines and culinary specialties.
http://krnov.minorite.cz

The Pilgrimage Church on the Cvilín Hill

The Pilgrimage Church of the Elevation of the Holy Rood and Our Lady on Cvilín Hill was built from 1722 to 1728 near a place where an old wooden chapel used to stand. The tradition of pilgrimages to the Cvilín Hill has been more than 400 years old.

Since the Middle Ages there has been a legend about the healing power of the picture of Our Lady that is placed behind the altar. Every year there are several pilgrimages. The most significant one is held every year in the middle of September and is called the Pilgrimage the Elevation of the Holy Rood and Our Lady. About 150 metres from the church there is an observation tower, which offers a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside, especially the highest peak of Moravia called, which is 1492 metres above sea level. Near the church there are two facilities providing boarding and accommodation: the newly reconstructed Hotel called Cvilín (about 150 m from the church) and a stylish pension called Šelenburk (about 400 m from the church), whose interior is decorated with many hunting trophies (antlers, a stuffed bear). The green footpath goes through the Cvilín Hill. It leads to the ruins of the Cvilín castle and also to the observatory tower of Hans Kudlich situated above the neighbouring municipality of Úvalno (about 5.5 km far from the Pilgrimage Church).
http://krnov.minorite.cz

St. Martin's Church

The oldest history of the church, substantiated in writing, dates back to the turn of the 13th and the 14th centuries, when it was taken over by the Teutonic Order. In 1779 the town was affected by fire that gutted the church as well. In the 1880s, the interior of the church was completely rebuilt. In the north part of the church, there are valuable renaissance tombstones dating from the 16th century. In the side chapel, there is a polychrome tombstone of the château doctor - Kryštof Bilický from Bilice. Next to the church, there are a Marian column with the statue of Virgin Mary Immaculate dating from the 18th century and an arcade wall, also called a Swedish wall, with stripping battlements from the period of 1523 – 1543.

The Evangelical Church

The church was built from 1901 to 1903 in the neo-gothic style. At that time the Krnov evangelical congregation had about 700 members. The evangelical religion in the Krnov region has been about 500 years old. In the middle age it was greatly disseminated by the margrave Georg Hohenzollern, also called Pious, a staunch proponent of the Luther doctrine, who bought the principality of Krnov from the Šelenberk family at the beginning of the 16th century. About 100 m behind the church, there is a former evangelical parsonage built in 1907 (today it is residence of the district department of the Police of the Czech Republic). In 1986, the church was recognized a historic landmark.
http://krnov.evangnet.cz

The Holy Spirit Church

The Holy Spirit Church is situated almost in the centre of the town. Nowadays it is a concert hall. Its beginning dates back to the 13th century; later it was rebuilt in the baroque style. Inside, there are wall paintings from the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. Many concerts are organized in the concert hall throughout the year. The peak of the season is undoubtedly a music festival called the Krnov Music Festival. A lot of artists have taken part in the festival in the previous years, for example Eva Urbanová, an opera singer, or Jiří Stivín, a flautist. The place is literally filled with spiritual atmosphere which, in connection with music, leaves an unforgettable impression on the visitors.

St. Benedict's Church

St. Benedict’s Church is situated in the part called Krnov Kostelec, by the access road towards Bruntál. According to the latest archaeological discoveries, the sacristy of the church dates from the first half of the 13th century and was a chancel of the original medieval church. It is the oldest religious building of this kind that has remained in the area of the Moravia-Silesia Region. Valuable medieval wall paintings with religious motifs have been discovered. Restoration work is being carried out in the interior these days. Next to the church, there is a sandstone statue of St. John the Baptist made by the sculptor Andreas Zahner in the 1830s, which is a historic landmark, as well as the church.
http://www.ms-pamatky.cz