The Work of Jan Santini in Zelená Hora and the Žďár Region

The visitor to Žďár nad Sázavou will be interested in the crystalline mass of the architecture of the former pilgrimage church of St. Jan Nepomucký on Zelená hora. When he then passes through the ring of cloisters and enters the courtyard of the temple, he does not avoid the feeling of extraterrestrial reality, the impression of some mysterious space between earth and heaven. According to many experts in the history of architecture, this work by the architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel surpassed everything that had hitherto been created in buildings of this type in the Czech Republic and throughout Central Europe. The authors of the publication Zelená hora with the subtitle Žďársko by Jan Santini, professors of art and architecture history Jiří Kroupa and Jan Sedlák, pay attention not only to the St. John's pilgrimage church on Zelená hora, but also to Santini's buildings in the former Cistercian monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou, stables and riding school. , The Abbey Hall in the prelature of the monastery, the Lower Cemetery, the "Lyra" farmyard near Bránský rybník and others. They also represent the sacristy of the cemetery church of the Holy Trinity in the city and Santini's buildings in the Žďár region - the church of St. Václav Zvoli, a manorial inn with a courtyard in Ostrov nad Oslavou, the church of St. Peter and Paul in Horní Bobrová or the parish church in Obytčov. The texts are supplemented by photographs of the current state of the historic center, and at the end there is again a map with individually marked buildings.