The Church of All Saints ( cs, Kostel Všech svatých) is situated in Plzeň in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is one of the oldest churches in the area and it was considered the main

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the early villages of Plzeň, Malice and Záhorsko before the construction of the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew was completed.

History

The initial Romanesque church was constructed in the 13th century. In 1310 the

Henry of Bohemia Henry of Gorizia (german: Heinrich, cs, Jindřich; – 2 April 1335), a member of the House of Gorizia, was Duke of Carinthia and Landgrave of Carniola (as Henry VI) and Count of Tyrol from 1295 until his death, as well as King of Bohemia, Mar ...

granted the patronage right to the

Teutonic order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, which enforced this right and established the church of

St. Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

, which was set to become the

of the early Plzeň. According to result of the new situation the Church of All Saints lost its privileged status and become a filial church. The church was reconstructed in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style at the end of the 14th century. During the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

, the church's

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was significantly damaged and for this reason the church was repaired during the rest of the century. In 1743, a Baroque entrance hall was built as an annex to the initial entrance gate There were numerous continuous repairs during the 19th century. The repairs also focused on the interior. During a World War II bombardment, a stray bomb fell down through the presbytery of the church and the altar and caused a significant damage. Part of the presbytery burned down. After a whole century of repairs the church was opened and consecrated again by Mons. František Radkovský in 1995. Nowadays the church is maintained and operated by the

franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

of Plzeň.

Church exterior

The

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

is a one nave church with a presbytery on the eastern portion, which ends at a polygonal five-sided closure. The wall and

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

lining materials are blocks of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

Entrance

The main entrance at the southern

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

serves as an access to the church. It has two

concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set * The concavity of a ...

walls with two late Baroque rounded windows lined with pilasters ending in a baluster entablature with a densely profiled molding.

Presbytery and the church nave

The presbytery and the

are supported by diagonal and setback

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es with roof-like skews. The church's entire parameter is encircled by a window ledge. The presbytery is surrounded by

plinths A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

culminating in a cornice of the window-sill. All four presbytery windows are Gothic with the

flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...

, a flame-like

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

. The other windows in the nave have a form of a pointed shape without traceries.

Church sacristy

The northern part of the presbytery wall is nowadays connected by the portal with the sacristy, which was originally built as a separate

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

without access to the church. The sacristy is supported by diagonal

es topped with roof-like skews. It is covered with a shed roof connecting to the presbytery. Similarly, as the nave windows, the shape of the window on the eastern side is pointed.

Church interior

Church nave and presbytery

The nave is vaulted by a

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...

with the ribs leading to decorative

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

s located along the interior walls. A high choir was built on the western end of the nave in the 16th century.Rožmberský, p. 14 Similarly, the space under the high choir is vaulted by a groin vault with a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

leading to the upper level. A linear massive pointed triumphal arch divides the nave from the presbytery. The presbytery is

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

by a figured rib vault, which is ending in a polygonal five-sided closing. Rectangular supports standing on a plinth surrounding the presbytery support the vault.

Church sacristy

The sacristy is vaulted by a jumping vault that leads to the diagonal

-supported console.

Gallery

Kostel Vsech Svatych Pudorys.png, Ground plan scheme Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 10.JPG, Tower Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 11.JPG, Chancel turret Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 12.JPG, Baroque entrance Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 01.JPG, Church interior and presbytery Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 07.JPG, Interior and high choir Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 08.JPG, Interior, nave pulpit Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 06.JPG, Vault in the presbytery Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 02.JPG, Sacristy, jumping vault Kostel Všech Svatých v Plzni 03.JPG, Jumping vault

References

Literature

* ROŽMBERSKÝ, Petr. Kunčin Hrádek a kostel Všech svatých v Plzni. nadace České hrady. Plzeň, 1996. Zapomenuté hrady tvrze a místa. 80-238-4707-4 *RŮŽIČKA, David. ''Plzeňská tajemství''. Plzeň: NAVA, 2009, . * BĚLOHLÁVEK, Miloslav, Jaromír KOVÁŘ, Miloslav ŠVÁB and Adolf ZEMAN. ''Dějiny Plzně I: Od počátků do roku 1788''. Plzeň: Západočeské nakladatelství v Plzni, 1965. ISBN. * MARTINOVSKÝ, Ivan. ''Dějiny Plzně v datech: od prvních stop osídlení až po současnost''. 1st ed. Prague: Lidové noviny, 2004. .

External links

Plzeň official tourist portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of All Saints (Plzen) Churches in Plzeň Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century