The basilica in Velehrad is a former Cistercian monastery church from the 13th century, today a pilgrimage basilica managed by the local parish.
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The Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius is a former monastery church in Velehrad in the Zlín Region. The basilica is managed by the Roman Catholic parish of Velehrad, according to whose text Velehrad is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Czech Republic.[1]
The Cistercian monastery
In 1205 Cistercian monks came to the valley. The monastery, named after the nearby village of Veligrad, today Staré Město, continued an older tradition reaching back to the 9th century, when Constantine and Methodius came to Moravia. The founders were the Margrave of Moravia Vladislaus Henry and his brother Ottokar I of Bohemia. According to the parish text, they may have chosen the site because, according to legend, Prince Bořivoj was baptised here by Saint Methodius. Velehrad was to serve as the burial place of the Moravian branch of the Přemyslids.[1]
Construction of the conventual church began around 1215. The church was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, as was usual for Cistercian churches; the co-patronage of Saints Cyril and Methodius was added in 1932 by a decree of Pope Pius XI. The original Romanesque-Gothic building was a three-aisled basilica on a Latin cross plan, ninety-nine metres long, widening at the east end into five-aisled choir chapels with apses. At first it served only the monks, while the residents of the outer precinct used the small church of Cyrilka in front of the monastery gate.[1]
Changes to the building
In 1421 Moravian Hussites burned the Velehrad abbey, and the monastery then fell into decay for a hundred and fifty years. The building was altered by repairs, which included the construction of a Renaissance tower one hundred metres high. The church lost its medieval form after the great fire of 1681, which was followed by an early Baroque reconstruction. The building was shortened by the façade with its Romanesque portal, a new façade with two towers was created, the side aisles were divided by partitions into fourteen chapels, a dome was vaulted over the crossing, and the tall tower was replaced by a Baroque lantern. Since then the basilica has been 86 metres long and has kept the proportions and ground plan of the Romanesque-Gothic building.[1]
A smaller fire in 1719 prompted repairs to the interior, which, according to the text, was given its present appearance by the sculptor and stuccoist B. Fontana and the fresco painters I. Egstein and I. Etgens. After decades of repairs the church was consecrated again in 1735.[1]
From the dissolution of the monastery to a pilgrimage site
The monastery was dissolved in 1784 and the church began to serve as a parish church. The residents of the outer precinct lacked the means for maintenance, so the building fell into ruin for decades. It was restored in connection with the cult of Cyril and Methodius, which peaked at the millennia of 1863 and 1885. The arrival of the Jesuits in 1890 was also important for the development of Velehrad. Thousands of pilgrims visited the place, and Unionist congresses were held here, which the parish describes as forerunners of today's ecumenical efforts.[1]