Witness the hulking Basilica of the Assumption of Mary and Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The two massive towers and lavish interiors are fine examples of Czech Baroque design, a unique style encouraged in part by the counter-reformation. The church itself dates from the beginning of the 13th century, and signs of the old Romanesque and Gothic elements of the building can still be seen.
The Moravian margrave, Vladislav Jindřich, founded a convent with the support of Robert, Bishop of Olomouc. It was built on a site associated with the missionary work of the Byzantine brothers Cyril and Methodius in the Great Moravian Empire in the early 13th Century. In 880, Pope John VIII had made Methodious the first archbishop of the Moravian church. The brothers were often in conflict with German missionaries for the development of a Slavonic liturgy, which did not last long after Methodius’ death in 1885. However, the Orthodox brothers’ conversion of the Moravians and their canonization by the Catholic Church made Velehrad an important pilgrimage site.
Every year thousands arrive at the basilica minor (a title granted in 1927) on July 5, Cyril and Methodius’ Saints’ Day and a national holiday. Czechs view the saints as key figures in their “western” European orientation, despite their Orthodox Christian origins. Some scholars suggest that the massive gathering to mark the 1100th anniversary of Methodius’ death in 1985 was an early demonstration against the communist regime. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared Cyril and Methodius co-patron saints of Europe, and ten years later gave a mass at the basilica. In a symbolic gesture, he presented the church with a Golden Rose, a token of reverence.
Like many churches in Europe, the current one at Velehrad has taken shape after several restorations due to fire (like that of 1681), war (an early version of the church was destroyed by the Hussites in 1421), and changing architectural styles (such as the Baroque reconstruction of the interiors to create side chapels). The convent was abolished during the reforms of Emperor Joseph II in the late eighteenth century, and the church served as a parish church until the arrival of the Jesuits in 1890. There is some debate over the names of those involved in the Baroque restorations, but experts have identified the work of Giovanni Pietro Tencalla (1629-1702), famous for his architectural designs throughout Moravia and Vienna, on the exterior. Baltazar Fontana (1661-1733) is credited for the work on the altars and the stucco interiors. Other notable pieces by him can be seen in Kraków and Olomouc. Ignác Raab (1715-1787), a Jesuit who is considered one of the most important Czech painters of the 18th Century, and is the author of several of the altar paintings and the ceiling painting in the refectory.
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