Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

Písek Písek (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 31,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the oldest bridge in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument z ...

in the

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''Regions of the Czech Republic, kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western ...

of the

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

. It has a

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 ...

, two

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, and a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

on the south side of the western facade which has become a symbol of the town. It is also the highest building in Písek.

History

The construction of the church started with the building of presbytery in 1240. Walls of the presbytery together with its polygonal ending were made first. Then was built a roof frame, which was protecting the work during the construction of the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

. There was built a temporary wall in a triumphal arch of the presbytery to start the religious ceremonials before the church construction was completed. The work continued with a construction of two towers in corners of the western facade. At the same time were built side walls of the church. A main entrance was built in the northern wall, which was quite uncommon. After finishing the exterior walls a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

by the presbytery and an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

, they were able to build a

cross 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 ...

above the nave and two aisles. After that, the temporary wall was demolished and the church was completed. The church was probably consecrated around 1360. The Late Gothic construction period is connected with the master builder Mikulas Pisecký, who changed the western facade and he constructed the south tower. The Neo-Gothic reconstruction was made according to plans by the architect Josef Mocker.

Exterior

Western facade

The entrance portal in this part of the church was built in the middle of the 14th century. There are

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s on the edge of the portal. One of them is Mikuláš Písecký himself, builder of the monumental

and in his text is written about the construction of the tower. Other reliefs possibly show the king Vladislaus II of Hungary (Jagiellon) and his son Louis II. There is a pointed window above the entrance portal, which is decorated by sacral motifs and statues. Next to the window is a relief of Crowned

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

with child. There is also a staircase to the

organ loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

in the wall of the northern tower.

The tower

The monumental southern tower built in the western facade is in height and has become the symbol of the town Písek. The construction of the tower started in 1489. In 1555 lightning hit the new tower and it burned down. During the following reconstruction was built the bulbous roof (also called onion roof) instead of the old

saddle roof A saddle roof is a roof form which follows a convex curve about one axis and a concave curve about the other. The hyperbolic paraboloid form has been used for roofs at various times since it is easily constructed from straight sections of lumber, ...

. At the top is an

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

with a tracery railing. Behind the observation deck is a room for watchman, because in the past was the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

a part of the town defense system. At each side of the observation deck are clocks, which were moved from the city castle in 1860. There are some pointed windows at each side of the tower.

Northern facade

During the reconstruction of the tower in the 16th-century were made changes also in the northern part of the church. Above the north portal were built Renaissance shield arches with a new roof construction of the northern aisle. In 1726 was built an entrance hall in front of the entrance portal. It was removed in the middle of the 19th century while the church was in another reconstruction. In the same years an old

next to the presbytery was demolished. The window above the old sacristy was enlarged to the same height as other windows in the presbytery. It has become the biggest window in the presbytery because of the original window. Windows in the nave above aisles or in the sacristy are usually wider than in the presbytery. Písek, kostel Narození Panny Marie a kaple sv. Jana Nepomuckého.jpg, Western facade Písek-kostel-Narození-Panny-Marie2009-door.jpg, Entrance portal Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Jižní průčelí.JPG, Southern facade Písek, kostel Narození Panny Marie (5).jpg, Presbytery Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Severovýchodní průčelí.JPG, Northern facade Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Severní průčelí.JPG, Northern facade with original entrance portal

Interior

In the church was used a so-called "bonded construction system" in which the length of one field of the nave correspond to the two fields of the aisle and to two arcades. The system was interrupted by the tower which was built on the two western fields of the southern aisle.

Presbytery

The presbytery contains one cross-rib vaulted bay and polygonal ending, which is radially vaulted and in its center is a simple keystone without any decoration. The second keystone in the western part has been decorated with a radially lined up overlapping leaves. The axial pointed window is noticeably larger than other pointed windows, except the widened window in the northern facade.
The adjoining bay of the presbytery has a

ribbed vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a nave, church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Isla ...

connected to the reduced supports of the vault ended by a

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

. The consoles have simple floral and geometric motifs.

Nave

Also, the

has the cross-

with reduced supports. Massive

column 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 ...

s and the simple shaped

look heavy-footed. The supports of the vault ended on a cornice of columns. From the cornice come out a cuboidal slab to the pointed arch. In every bay of the nave is a window above the arcade which is a typical feature of the

. In the western part of the church was built the

which is supported by the

. It creates a quite lowered space behind the entrance portal. On the border of the northern aisle and the nave are placed paintings Enthroned Madonna and Jesus crowned by two angels from 1270. The

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

of the Crucifixion is on the border of the southern aisle and the nave.

Aisles

In the southern

next to the fresco of the Crucifixion is an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

of the

of Písek from the middle of the 14th century. The original painting of the Virgin Mary has been stolen and from the 1975 is exhibited a copy. On the left are vaulted windows with expanded moulding. There is also an entrance to the

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of Saint John of Nepomuk, which was added in years 1741–1743 to the southern aisle. This radical extension of the church ground plan was possible, because a churchyard was moved behind the city wall in 1549. Today the chapel serves as the sacristy and it has its own entrance, which was made in 1723. The northern aisle is less changed by reconstructions. In the western part are enlarged columns bearing the weight of the north tower and half of the

. In the middle is the old entrance portal, right in the opposite to the entrance to the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk. Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Pohled od kruchty.JPG, Nave from organ loft Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Přímý pohled od presbytáře.JPG, Nave from chancel Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Vedlejší loď.JPG, Southern aisle from altar of the Virgin Mary Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Napojení svatojánské kaple.JPG, Connection of Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Triumfální oblouk.JPG, Triumphal arch Kostel Narození Panny Marie v Písku - Hlavní oltář.JPG, Main altar Pisek dekansky kostel oltar.jpg, Altar of the Virgin Mary Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary - church groundplan.jpg, Church groundplan

Curiosity

* The original main portal on the north side is quite unusual. Its origin may be due to the orientation of the church of East-West and dropping it to the highest point surrounded by walls. The church was in that place parallel to the walls and the best access road was straight from today's Alešovo Square to the north side of the church as could be clearly seen today. * Throughout the history of the building were built entrance portals in all sides of the church. Even there was an entrance portal leading directly into the presbytery, which was bricked up in 2001. The southern entrance was bricked up two years earlier. * The tower clock swapped size of pointers because of economic reasons. The big pointer shows hours and the small pointer shows minutes.

Bibliography

* Soukup, Josef: Soupis památek Historických a uměleckých, díl 33. Politický okres písecký (1910), pp. 202–226. * Adámek Jan, Sommer Jan; Všetečková Zuzana, Středověký kostel Panny Marie v Písku, Prácheňské nakladatelství firmy Ires (2001), 145 p. * Adámek Jan, Škoch Jiří, Písecké katolické kostely, Písek, Římskokatolická farnost Písek v Prácheňském nakladatelství (2005), 54 p.

References

External links

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
on the official tourist portal of Písek

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Pisek) Písek District Buildings and structures in Písek 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Czech Republic