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OLOMOUC
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech
Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is
the ecclesiastical metropolis of Moravia.
Olomouc contains several large squares, the chief of
which is adorned with Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. The column is 115 ft. high and was
built in 1716–1754.
The most prominent church is the St. Wenceslas cathedral.
In the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic
style, but it kept many parts from the original church,
which had also been rebuilt many times (Romanesque crypt,
Gothic cloister, Baroque chapels). The highest of its
three spires is 328 ft. (image) The church neighbours
with the Bishop's Palace (often incorrectly called the
Premyslid Palace), a 12th century Romanesque building. (image)
The real Premyslid Palace, i.e. the residence of Olomouc
members of the governing Premyslid Dynasty, used to
stand nearby.
The St. Maurice church, a fine Gothic building of the
15th century, and the St. Michael church are also worth
mentioning. The Neo-baroque chapel of St. John Sarkander
stands on the place of a former town prison. Catholic
priest John Sarkander was imprisoned here in the
beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was accused of
collaboration with the enemy and tortured here, but did
not reveal anything because of the Seal of Confession,
and died. The torturing rack and Sarkander’s gravestone
are preserved here. He was canonized by Pope John Paul
II during his visit in Olomouc in 1995.
Another place that John Paul II visited here was Svaty
Kopecek, a part of Olomouc lying on a hill, with the
magnificent Baroque church of the Visitation of the
Virgin Mary looking down at the city. The Pope promoted
the church to Minor Basilica.
The principal secular building is the town hall,
completed in the 15th century, flanked on one side by a
Gothic chapel, transformed now into a museum. It
possesses a tower 250 ft. high adorned with an
astronomical clock.
The old university founded in 1573 and suppressed in
1860, was reopened in 1946 and called Palacky University.
Olomouc is also proud of its six Baroque fountains. The
fountains survived in such a number thanks to cautious
policy of the city council. While most European cities
were removing old fountains after they had built their
water supply piping, Olomouc decided to keep them as
water reservoirs in case of fire. For their decoration
ancient Roman motifs were used. Five of them depict
Roman gods Jupiter (image), Mercury (image), Triton (image),
Neptune and Hercules (image), and one depicts Julius
Caesar, the legendary founder of the city. |
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