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Information » Guide

Guide 

The central sanctuary – the basilica – consecrated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is surrounded by chapels and situated on an oblong stone terrace in the courtyard bounded by the ambulatories. These consist of nine arcades on the northern and southern side and seven arcades on the eastern and western side. There are closed, octagonal chapels at the outside corners. The chapels are covered with bell-shaped roofs with lanterns. There are two chapels at each side of the ambulatory with an altar in the niche in the external masonry, all consecrated to the Holy Virgin. On the western side, in the middle below a bell tower, there is yet another, small chapel called „All Souls." On the northern side of the ambulatory, there is a clock tower. At the outside north-eastern corner, there is a two-storied residential building, and at the north-western corner there are the famous staircase of Svatá Hora which interconnect Svatá Hora and Příbram. The ambulatory is accessible from the east through the main, i.e. Prague Gate, from the south through Březnická Gate and from the north-west through the above mentioned ambulatory staircase.

The Prague Gate is located in the middle section of the eastern facade which is restricted to the area between the tower rizalita finished with an stone openwork balustrade with seven statues of Old Testament prophets at the corners. On the eastern side there are Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi. On the northern side are David, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Obadiah. Between the towers there are seven busts of saint monarchs on the plinths of a similar balustrade: St. Wenceslas, St. Leopold, St. George, St. Ferdinand, St. Ludwig and St. Casimir. A part of the balustrade together with three statues of the prophets represent the last work of Příbram sculptor Matěj Hueber. The remaining work, including the relief framing of the summer oratory, is work of Jan Brokof and dates to 1702. In 1732 the Prague Gate was decorated with illustrative paintings on the occasion of the anniversary of the famous coronation of the statuette of the Virgin Mary. The painting by F. Muller and K. Lang did not survive the weather conditions and faded away sometimes in the 20th century.

The portal of the gate was also decorated at a later time. The stonework, was created by Jan Oldřich Mannes in the period of 1702 to 1706 according to the design of Kryštof Dientzenhofer's artistic workshop. Dientyenhofer was at that time working on the construction of a monastery church in the nearby Obořiště. The collaboration of Krystof Dientzenhofer on Svatá Hora has later been recorded in period documents. The statues on the portal – The Virgin Mary of Svatá Hora, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier – and two angels standing on the plinths along the staircase are by Jan Oldřich Mayer and date to 1706. The architecture of the portal is, in the context of radically baroque works of art, one of the most beautiful and, from an engineering perspective, challenging. The same applies also to the portal of the Březnická Gate which was finished in 1707. The stonework was carried out by J. O. Mannes and F. Herstorffer. In the niche above the portal, there is a large stone replica of the statue of Holy Virgin of Svatá Hora and on the sides of the segment containing the shield there are statues of St. Joachim and St. Ann. There are six stone busts on the attic between the towers: St. Simon, St. Jude Thaddeus, St. James the Greater, Mary the wife of James, Mary Salome, and Mary of Magdala. These statues are the earliest known and documented works of Ondřej Filip Quitteiner. They date from 1707.

Entering into the ambulatory through the Prague Gate portal there opens a spectacular view across the wide staircase of the open loggia with three arcades situated in the facade, the middle arcade  is  remarkably  higher and  is topped with a triangular gable wall gives form to the triangle-shaped design that gradually rises with great stateliness from the stone terrace. Over the deep space from the lower arcades to the middle one, there looms up the massive altar of the Coronation chapel. It is truly majestic and the only one like it in Bohemia. On the western side of the pilgrimage complex, there once stood a similar loggia with three open chapels.

The plan was elaborated and authorized in 1659. The foundations of the corner chapels were laid the next year, and the construction then continued with the building of the ambulatories between the chapels:. First, the western ambulatory was built (completed by 1667), and almost simultaneously the southern, the eastern was finished in 1671. The northern was finished only in 1673. There is a large crypt situated in front of the western ambulatory. There is a so-called summer courtyard on the level of the eastern ambulatory.

The walls of the ambulatories are decorated with twenty-one large lunette paintings that elaborate themes based on the legends and history of Svatá Hora. They are accompanied by relevant texts that describe the painted events. The oldest are said to have been painted in the period of Jesuits' management of Svatá Hora, however, they were repainted at the end of 19th century and new ones were later added by Josef Mathauser.

On the vaults of the ambulatories there are a hundred tableaux, painted in the primitive style. They show various accidents, tragedies, or imminent threats, when a plea to the Holy Virgin of Svatá Hora effectively helped the supplicants. The author drew upon chronicles of Svatá Hora and also inscribed the year the corresponding event took place. In the eastern ambulatory, there are tableaux of various falls: from a tower, a horse, a carriage – thus demonstrating the dangers of heights. In the southern ambulatory are tragedies brought about by war, plague, and wild beasts. In the western ambulatory, there can be seen pictures of dangers from fire, the sword, and flashes of lightning. And in the northern ambulatory, perils caused by water are prominently depicted.

The stuccowork all on the vaults of the ambulatory chapels is original, as is the masonry and the stucco altars. The ornamental and – with only minor exceptions – the figurative stucco decorations belong, from the artistic standpoint, to the most valuable works of art in this whole place of pilgrimage.

 The paintings had not been restored for rather a long period of time after the departure of Jesuits and so the canvases continued to lose their colour, in effect the pictures were beginning to fade away. The Redemptorists had the altar paintings repainted or, where they changed the consecration of the chapels, they replaced them with new ones. In the period 1872 to 1882 they entrusted Jan Umlauf with the execution of the work. He also created the paintings of the saints on the sides of the altars. On the altars, or on the sides in the stucco cartouches in the chapels, there once were pointed shields of the chapels' founders or patrons, those people who provided the resources for their decoration. These have also been damaged, the paint flaking off, and the shields not having been restored.
The main idea behind most of the paintings on the ambulatory chapels' vaults is the invocation of Litany of Loretto.

The first chapel north of the main entrance is called of Nativity of the Virgin Mary. It was founded in 1666 by Marie Eva Alžběta of Tiefenbach, born in Šternberk. She died in 1668, and her sister-in-law Ludmila Benigna Šternberk, born in Říčany, provided the finances to finish the decoration. Thus, there were coats of arms of Šternberk and Říčan families above the paintings on the altar. The chapel was decorated in 1671. There is a painting „Nativity of the Virgin Mary" on the altar and paintings „St. Catherine" and „St. Wenceslas" on its sides.

The chapel of The Presentation of the Holy Virgin (south of the entrance). Financial support for this chapel were provided in 1661 by František Hovora Berka from Dubé, however, he did not live to see even the laying of the foundation stone, he died in 1663. The chapel was finished and decorated in 1671 with help of his wife Marie Antonie, born in Berlaymont. Their conjoined coat of arms is above the altar painting „The Presentation in the Temple of the Holy Virgin". On the sides, there are paintings „St. Michael" and „St. Jana of Sien" that date from 1875. The paintings on the vault were done by Jan Jiří Kubát and restored in 1895 J. Mathauser.

In the Southeast corner, there is an octagonal closed chapel of The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, which is sometimes called also The Prague Chapel. It was built and decorated through the generosity of the three Prague towns (Old Town, New Town and Smaller or Lesser Town) between 1661-1705. The construction work was finished as early as 1667, but a contract with a plasterer, Santini Cereghetti, was signed only on 4th June, 1675. The ceiling was decorated with stucco the very same year, however, the stone walls were finished only in 1696. That same year, J. J. Steifels from Steinfels painted eight fresco paintings of saints, the intercessors of the Czech land, on the ceiling, and Pavel Graffnetter, the stonemason, added his contriution with two granite portals according to the design of the workshop of Kryštof Dientzenhofer. In 1697 Peter Brandl painted an altar painting “The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary". It is the most beautiful painting in the whole of the Svatá Hora complex. The original of the painting hangs in the residence building, that on the altar is merely a copy. The lattice doors at the entrances were made in 1712 by J. J. Knobloch.

Next to the Prague chapel there is an open chapel in the southern ambulatory, originally dedicated to The Visitation of the Virgin Mary. Money for the building of the chapel were donated in 1660, long before the laying of foundations, by Marie Eva Alžběta Tiefenbach, and up to 1665 she was considered its founder. Then she took over the patronage of the chapel of The Nativity of the Virgin and her nephew Karel Ignác from Šternberk took charge of The Visitation of the Virgin Mary Chapel.. After the completion of building of the south ambulatory in 1667, he took the patronage of the neighbouring chapel, and let Vilém Albrecht Krakovský from Kolowrat, the Grand Justice of the monarchy, have his previous one. Kolowrat presented a huge sum of money for the chapel, and its decoration work went quickly ahead. It was completed in 1670, however the paintings' colours started to flake and fall off, and so in 1677 they were replaced with new paintings by Karel Daniel Komínek. According to the surviving contract, Komínek painted in 1678 „the fronts" (more probably that of the altars) of all the open chapels to protect them against adverse weather conditions, nevertheless, nothing of his work has survived to the present day. Above the paintings on the sides of the altar, there once was the coat of arms of Vilém Albrecht from Kolowrat and his wife Ludmila Eva Františka Hyzrlová from Chody. The altar painting „The Betrothal of the Virgin Mary" and the side paintings „St. John of Nepomuck" and „St. Anthony" date from 1873.

Next to Březnická chapel, there stands another chapel in the ambulatory, originally consecrated to The Purification of the Virgin Mary. Since some time around 1874, it has been devoted to The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. The money for the building of the chapel was donated by Adam Loubský from Lub and his wife Kateřina Barbora, born Karlová, from Svárov. After the building of the chapel was completed in 1667, he did not contribute to its decoration. That was paid for by Karel Ignác from Šternberk together with his wife Polyxena Ludmila, born Žďárská, and their joint coat of arms was situated above the altar painting. The stuccowork was carried out in 1670, ceiling paintings were finished by 1672, and repainted in 1896 by J. Mathauser. The altar painting „The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary" and the side paintings „St. Philomena" and „St. Joseph" date back to 1874.

The foundation stone of the corner closed octagonal chapel, Our Lady of Sorrows, also called Březnická Virgin Mary, was laid in 1660. The construction work was completed in 1665. The chapel was founded by the Lady of Březnice – Ludmila Kateřina Jeníšková from Újezd, born in Talmberk, who also founded a Jesuit seminary in Březnice. It was her wish, that her identity as a patron would remain secret, and so it became the only chapel without donor's coat of arms. The task of decoration was executed by 1667. The composition plan of the stuccowork is identical with the Pilsner Chapel and, in part, with grotto of St. Mary. The stucco was put on by G. B. Comet. The ceiling is decorated by paintings in stucco frames – „The Circumcision of Christ", „The Flight to Egypt", „The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple Among the Scholars", „Jesus Falls under the Weight of His Cross", „The Piety", „The Burial of Christ", „The Soldiers Keeping Watch at Christ's Tomb" – but the artist is unknown.

The chapel situated in the western ambulatory next to Březnická chapel has also been consecrated to The Sorrowful Virgin, or the Taking Down of Christ from the Cross. The money for its building was given by Maxmilliana Veronika Wratislav, born Švihovská, some time before the commencement of the construction work in 1660, but she died in 1662. The patronage of the chapel was taken over by her daughter from her first marriage, Eva Johanna, born in Šternberk, and Eva Johanna's husband, Adam Matyáš from Trauttmansdorf. The altar bore their shields which recurred twice more on the ceiling. The stucco decoration work was done in 1670, the paintings in 1671. The altar painting „The Piety" comes from the hands of F. Herzog and dates from 1872, while on the sides, there stand stucco figures of St. Wenceslas and St. Ludmila.

A small octagonal chapel below the bell tower, called All Souls Chapel and consecrated to The Virgin Mary, The Helper of Souls in Purgatory was build at the expense of Rosina Stockinger from Angerstock, who donated to it an extraordinary large amount as early as 1664. The stucco work, however, was carried out by Santino Cereghetti in collaboration with Antoni Soldati only in 1676, while the ceiling paintings, by Christian Dittmann were not complete until 1687. These ceiling paintings consist of „the Last Judgement”, „The Particular Judgement", „A Good Death", „Sudden Death", and „Hell." These paintings, despite many attempts at restoration, are among the few remaining original early baroque works, the authorship of which is still recognizable. The altar paintings „The Crucifixion", „The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus", and „The Sacred Heart of Mary" date from 1881. The doors on the side of the altar lead to the crypt and to the tower.

 Another chapel located in the western ambulatory was originally consecrated to The Death of the Virgin Mary. Since 1873, however, its consecration has been The Queen of Apostles. Its building and decoration were financially secured with a great sum of money given by Adam Matyáš, the Count of Trauttmannsdorff, but after the death of his mother-in-law, Maxmiliana Wratislav, he took charge of her chapel, Our Lady of Sorrows. In 1664 Mikuláš Aleš Vita from Zrzavý sent money for the building of The Chapel of The Death of the Virgin Mary, and in 1667 its decoration was completed. The author of the stucco work is apparently identical with the stuccoer of the Martinická or Coronation Chapel. In the middle of the altar, above the paintings, there are shields of Mikuláš Aleš Vita from Zrzavý and of his wife Kateřina Salomena Příchovská from Příchov. The shields' colours have been wrongly chosen and are not the original, but probably originated as a result of some later restoration.
Nevertheless they correspond with the figures in the coat of arms, and they are raised – which may as well be the reason behind their survival. The altar paintings, „The Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles", „St. Dominic" and „St. Alphonsus" date from 1873.

 The corner closed Pilsner Chapel is consecrated to The Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The town of Pilsen expressed a wish to build a larger chapel as early as February of 1660. The construction work was completed in 1665 and the stucco work was carried out the very same year by the best stuccoer of the time in Bohemia, Giovanni Bartolomeo Cometa. This task launched his work in the Svatá Hora complex where, with his craftsmanship, he enriched five other chapels. The ceiling paintings in the Pilsner Chapel were created by Giovanni Battista Colombo – it is his only piece of work in the country. The double lattice doors were made by J. J. Knobloch in 1713. The altar paintings, „St. Bartholomew" (the patron saint of the town of Pilsen), „The Virgin Mary of Pilsen" and „St. Michael" date from 1879.
Immediately below the Pilsner chapel on the slanting terrain, there is the St. Mary of Magdala chapel, accessible through an external door in the north-western wall. It is adorned with artificial dripstones which were meant to invoke the illusion of a cave – a grotto. The money for its building was provided by General Johanes de Lacron in 1665. The stucco was executed by G. B. Gomet in 1666, the paintings date to 1667. Thez consist of tableaux scenes from the life of St. Mary of Magdala. The statues, in relief, are situated in the niches of the grotto. In the centre over the altar there stands as statue of St. Mary Magdalene ( or Magdala), on the sides, there are St. John the Baptist and St. Mary of Egypt. In 1886 two new statues were obtained; St. John and St. Genevieve. Above the middle niche there are two angels in a large shell or concha carrying a stucco cartouche with donors' painted coats of arms – of General Lacron and his wife Margareta Blandina, born Soldenegg from Soldenhoffen.

In the northern ambulatory closer to the Pilsner chapel, stands The Chapel of the Coronation of the Virgin, which has been, since the 1870's dedicated as The Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The financial means for the building and decoration were provided by František Leopold Račín, who ranks among the most generous patrons of Svatá Hora. He died on 3rd December, 1672, and the north ambulatory was finished only the next year. Thus, he did not live to see the decoration of his chapel. The altar and stucco decoration of the shallow presbytery were completed by 1677, and the same year saw the completion of altar paintings by Karel. D. Komínek. Above the paintings on the sides of the altar in the stucco cartouches with coronets, there once were shields of František Leopold Račín and his wife, Dorota Ludmila Chotouchovská from Nebovid. The nave – whose ceiling is framed with belted vaulting – received its stucco and painting decoration in 1690 through the generosity of Jiří Račín, stepbrother of the chapel's founder. The stucco was done by Santino Cereghetti. On the altar there is a painting „The Assumption of the Virgin Mary" and on the altar's sides there are two other tableaux: „St. Ann of Bohemia" and „St. Clement Maria Hofbauer" – both date from 1876.

Some time before the commencement of the building works on the northern ambulatory in 1667 the possibility of building another chapel was considered which would be consecrated to The Virgin, Refuge of Sinners. As far back as 1662 and 1664 Vacláv Čábelický had donated a considerable sum of money to the building of the chapel. However, after the completion of the building in 1673, the chapel was consecrated to The Triumphant Virgin Mary and the famous General Jan Sporck took responsibility for its decoration. The stucco decoration with motives of war trophies and weapons was done in 1674 by Santino Cereghetti and tableaux of victorious battles with Turks were painted the same year by Jiří Filip Mazanec, who was already a painter at the Imperial court. In the centre of the vault, there rises out of the stucco a relief of a child-soldier with o hard hat on his head, a sword in his right hand, and a severed head of a Turk in his left hand. The figure comes from the shield of the family of Sporck and it reveals the patron's identity. A figure of a mercenary with a sword and shield that is decorated with a painted head of a Turk stands among crowns the centre of the altar. On the sides of the altar tableau „The Coronation of The Virgin Mary", there stand stucco/relief figures of St. John the Baptist and St. Barbara. On the sides of the altar itself, there are paintings „St. Theresa of Avila" and „St. Gerard" which date from 1881 – at which time the chapel was once again consecrated to The Coronation of The Virgin Mary.

The last closed octagonal chapel in the north-east corner, called Mníšecká, is, like The Pilsner Chapel, a two-storied building. It has been consecrated to The Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary and was built by Servac Engel from Engelfluss, lord of Mníšek. The building was finished in 1667 and decorated in 1671. Stone portals were carved by the stonemason, Pavel Graffnetter, in 1705 and the two lattice doors were supplied by J. J. Knobloch in 1712-1713. The ceiling tableaux were repainted by Karel Brázda before WWII. The altar painting „St. John of Nepomuk Kneeling before the Virgin" came from the workshop of J. Umlauf in 1871. Above the doors in the southern wall there is, set in a stucco frame, a painted coat of arms of the founder, Servac Engel, and his wife Kateřina Ludovika, born Rettling von Rettinger. On the western wall there is a coat of arms of Jan Karel from Unwerth, heir to Mníšek in the 18th century.

The wide staircase, open on three sides and leading to the eastern loggia, was built in 1672. At that time the terrace did not yet exist. According to the surviving contracts with the stonemason, after some landscaping, a stone retaining wall was built between 1698 and 1707. Staircases from the north, south and west were built, the terrace was paved and a balustrade around the whole platform was added. The work was carried out by stonemasons Pavel Graffnetter and František Herstorffer. The prism-shaped plinths of the balustrade were set with stone statues and vases. Statues of saints on the plinths alternate with those of angels. Each statue holds a cartouche with the Holy Virgin statuette in relief or in a painting of one of the pilgrimage destinations in the land of Bohemia. There are statues of angels and vases on the plinths of the three staircases. On the eastern side (in the north-south direction) there are statues of St. John the Evangelist (on the plinth itself, there is a cut out shield of family Talacků from Ješťětic), an angel with „The Virgin of Bechyně, „ the Archangel Gabriel with „The Virgin of the Annunciation," „The Virgin of Boleslav", St. Joseph with young Jesus and „The Virgin of Chlum", St. John the Baptist with the Lamb. On the southern side stand „The Virgin of Družice" with St. Ludmila, „The Virgin of Zbraslav" with St. Wenceslas, and „The Virgin of Budějovice" with St. Prokop.

On the staircase, there stand statues of an angel with a torch and an angel with a censer, and further on, St. Vojtěch with „The Virgin of Vyšehrad," and St. Bohuslav, with „The Virgin of Sušice." On the plinth, there is a cut shield of the Malovec family, then St. Sigmund, with the year 1758 on the plinth, and „The Virgin Mary of Pilsen".

On the western side, there stand the following statues: St. Jacob Chisai and „The Virgin of Klatovy", St. John Goto and „The Virgin Mary from the Church of St. Jacob in Prague", and St. Francis Xavier – on the staircase there are two statues, of an angel with a lute, and an angel with a bugle, then St. Ignatius of Loyola and „The Virgin of Litomyšl", St. Francis Borgia and „The Virgin of Vilímov", (located near Golčov Jeníkov), and St. Paul Miki.

The northern side holds „The Virgin Mary from the Church of St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town of Prague" with St. John, „The Virgin of Kladsko" with St. Norbert, and „The Virgin of Chlumek", (Chlumek u Luže) with St. Methodus. On the staircase there stands a statue of the Archangel Michael and the Archangel Rafael, then St. Cyril with „The Virgin of Krupka", St. John of Nepomuk with „The Virgin of Jičín", and St. Vitus with „The Virgin of Kutná Hora".

The oldest statues (of Annunciation) date from 1693 and were made by the Příbram sculptor Matěj Hueber. They are proportionally taller than the other statues on the terrace. Heuber's authorship of twelve statues of saints and angels above the staircase, ten statues of angels with the shields as well as his authorship of all the vases is documented with contracts from the turn of the 17th and 18th century. If we base our analysis on stylistic comparison, most of the statues on the terrace (several of them excepted, such as St Sigmund and St. John of Nepomuk) can be ascribed to Hueber. The statues prove beyond a doubt his exceptional stonemason's craftsmanship.

The shell of the building of the whole eastern loggia, situated opposite the main entrance was finished before the end of 1661. Below the main construction, a large crypt vaulted with eight pillar columns was built. The monarchy's burgrave-in-command, Bernard Ignác, Count Martinic and his two sons-in-law, Jan František from Vrbno and František Ferdinand Gallas, showed interest in completing the three open chapels in the loggia in 1665. Martinic chose the middle one, the highest and largestof the three, and both sons-in-law with their wives (Martinic's daughters) chose the smaller chapels on the sides.

In the middle The Chapel of Visitation of the Holy Virgin (also called Martinic, Burgrave's, Emperor's, or Coronation Chapel) was covered in stucco decoration and with paintings paid for by Count Martinic in 1667 when an altar with a painting by Jan Kryštof Christl was installed. In 1670 the original altar was replaced by a different one. A temporary entrance into the crypt, accessible right from Martinic Chapel, was replaced with a large marble panel in 1671. The faŁade behind the arcades was completed with a stucco decoration with the conjoined coats of arms of the Martinic and Dietrichštejn families in the shield in 1672. (Zuzana Polyxena, the second wife of lord Martinic was born Dietrichštejn.) A large marble altar replaced the earlier one in 1924 according to the design of architect Richard Klenka. There are twelve tableaux, with inscriptions, of the twelve parts of the prayer „Ave Maria". On the vault belts, there are paintings of Czech patron saints, apostles, Old Testament prophets, archangels – each expressing devotion to the Holy Virgin. On the front wall, above the main ledge and above the altar, there is a spacious lunette painting „People of All Estates honour the Holy Virgin of Svatá Hora". The side walls of the presbytery are covered with large scenes by J. Mathuaser which date from 1898: „A Jesuit Priest at Rome with the Petition for Coronation of the Beautiful Statuette of the Holy Virgin of Svatá Hora", „A Priest Delivers the Coronation Brief" and „The 1732 Coronation Ceremony." In the side arcades in gussets, there are sitting figures of four prophets, stucco decoration from 1903.

ln the southern side of the middle chapel there is a The Chapel of St. Joachim and St. Ann. Money for the decoration was given in 1665 by Jan František from Vrbno together with his wife, Maria Eliška from Martinic. The exceptional stucco work was carried out by G. Bartolome Cometa in the period of 1667 to 1668 and the painting was done almost simultaneously. There are tableaux from the life of The Holy Virgin's parents which were repainted by J. Mathauser in 1895. The altar painting „St. Ann with the Holy Virgin and St. Joachim" dates from 1873. On the sides of the altar, there are the statues of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier and, above them, there are stucco cartouches with shields of the families Martinic and Vrbna. The statues on the sides of the presbytery represent St. Anthony of Padua and a Guardian Angel.

The Chapel of St. Joseph is situated to the north of the center chapel. In 1665 František Ferdinand, Count of Gallas, together with his wife, Kateřina Barbora Františka from Martinic, accepted its patronage. The chapel's decoration was finished before 1667. An unknown plasterer worked exclusively in this chapel in Svatá Hora. The ceiling paintings depict scenes from the life of St. Joseph and the Holy Family. Only its restorer, J. Mathauser, who renovated the painting in 1873, is known. On the altar, there is a painting „The Death of St. Joseph" from 1873. On the sides of the altar in the blind niches, there are stucco figures of St, Anthony and St. Francis of Assisi. In the cartouches above them, there are painted coats of arms of the Gallas and Martinic families, and in the niches of the presbytery's side walls there stand statues of St. Katherine and St. Margaret.

 The St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier chapels together with their antechambers and oratories in the second storey were attached to the side walls of the old sanctuary in the period between 1661 and 1667.
The Chapel of St. Francis Xavier was decorated at the expense of Karel Leopold, Count Mellisimo, in 1668, some time after it had been built, and almost simultaneously it was adapted for use as a sacristy. The stucco decoration was supposedly done by G. Bartolome Cometa. There are ten tableaux on the vaults depicting scenes from the missionary work of St. Francis Xavier. Only the author of the restoration from 1904, J. Mathauser, is known. On the western wall above the entrance, there are figures of angels who carry stucco cartouches with painted shields of the patron, Karel Leopold, Count Millesimo, his first wife Františka Hyzrlová from Chody who died in 1669, and Johanna Eusebie Myslíková from Hyršov, born Žďárská, who married Count Millesimo the very same year in Svatá Hora. This year probably also dates the original paintings in the chapel. A decorative latticework, which partitions the room across its width, dates from 1685 and bears the coats of arms of the donors, supplemented with the following initials: Kryštof Wratislav from Mitrovice (CWZM) and his wife Marie Alžběta Wratislav from Waldštejn (MWRW).

The Chapel of St. Ignatius was decorated in 1670 at the expense of Karel Ignác from Šternberk. It also served as a second sacristy since as early as 1668. There are ten paintings from the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The artist is unknown. The repainting was done in 1897 by Josef Bosáček, a friend and colleague of Mikoláš Aleš. The artist of the „St. Ignatius" painting on the altar is J. Mathauser and it dates from 1904. On the sides of the altar, there are two stucco figures of St. Wenceslas and St. Norbert, the patron saints of two brothers of the chapel's benefactor Karel Ignác from Šternberk, whose coat of arms and that of his wife Ludmila Polyxena, born Žďárská, are to be seen above the entrance in a stucco cartouche which is carried by two figures of angels. The figures of their coats of arms, a star and an eagle, reoccur also in the chapel's stucco decoration, twice on each side of the room.

The construction work on the grand tower above the sanctuary was finished by the autumn of 1667. As early as October 6th the same year there was reportedly a lamp hung on top of the tower so that its light would be perceived „from the countryside as light of a lighthouse".

 There ore two antechambers and two chapels in the basilica's aisles. In each of the antechambers, there is an entrance into the basilica's nave, an entrance leading into the chapel itself, and there is also a doorway, broken through the wall in or about 1769, leading into the western ambulatory. These doorways roughly correspond to the stucco altar, the lower port of which has been destroyed by their breaking through the wall. The marble portals in the antechambers which lead into the basilica date from 1669.
They were both given by Maxmiliana Kateřina z Vrábí. Her initials (MKZW) and her coat of arms are cut in the stone wall above the doorway of the southern portal. The western portal was additionally marked with gilded letters BASILICA, Pius X. 1905. At the right hand side, there is a sculptural baroque font set into the wall which dates back to 1700. In the antechamber's western wall, there is a marble plaque of the family Wratislav from Mitrovice with their coat of arms in relief and an inscription which refers to Adam Leopold, his wife Eva Marie, born Vrábská, and their son Václav Ignác Wratislav from Mitrovic. Adam Leopold was person who initiated the handover of Svatá Hora to Jesuits in 1647 and Václav Ignác gave a substantial sum of money to the building of the Svatá Hora staircase from Příbram.

The ground plan of the basilica consecrated to The Assumption of the Virgin is a reversed T. The front, that is, the eastern part, which spans over two voussoirs, consists of the stonework of the original chapel. Its western wall was knocked down between 1745 and 1751 and the old shrine became transformed into one space with the three western chapels whose arcades had been bricked up. The vault of the front section is from 1848. The whole of it was covered with stucco Faux-Baroque and Art Nouveau decoration by the architect Rudolf Němec in 1903. In the centre of the western section, there is the former chapel of The Visitation of Holy Virgin and on the sides the chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin and The chapel of St. Elizabeth. In the middle section, there is an organ loft from 1909, and below, in the axis of the nave, there is the main entrance into the chapel. The shells of all the three chapels of the former western loggia were finished by 1667. The same year, František Karel Kolowrat of Liebštejn provided the financial means for the completion of the middle chapel.

The exceptionally fine stucco decoration of the ceiling was made by G. Bartolomeo Cometa in 1668. The stucco reliefs of the evangelists in the gussets above the arcades leading to the side chapels are part of the 1903 decorations. Between 1675 and 1676 Santino Cerghetti decorated the western facade and gable with stucco works of joint coat of arms of František Karel Kolowrat and his wife Isabela Klára from Nogarel. After the bricking-up of the western loggia arcades and handling of the new architectural plan of the whole western facade, Cereghetti's works were removed in 1746 and replaced with a less complex stucco decoration by the stuccoer Jan Aldelli.

The neighbouring northern chapel was financed by Štěpán, Count of Vrbno. It was built before 1667, however its decoration was delayed for long time until the brother-in-law of the Count of Vrbno, Václav Norbert Oktavián Kinský, took over its patronage. The stucco work was done by Santino Cereghetti in the period from 1686 to 1687, the ceiling paintings were done by Christian Dittman in 1687. They consist mainly of scenes from the life of St. Wenceslas. J. Umlauf repainted them in 1875. The chapel was originally consecrated to The Assumption of the Virgin. There are the following murals to be seen on the stucco altar: „The Holy Virgin with Angels" and „The Apocalyptic Lamb". The existing pictures are repaints from 1875. On the sides of the altar, there are stucco figures of St. Wenceslas and St. John of Nepomuk, above them there are cartouches for shields of the f Kinsky and Martinic families. In the niches of the presbytery's side walls, there stand stucco statues of St. Agnes and St. Ludmila. In front of the stucco altar, there stands, in the foreground, a marble altar with silver statues of the Czech patron saints.

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Odkazy

Fotogalerie

• Velikonoční vigilie 2012
• Roráty s P. S. Přibylem, CSsR
• Benefiční koncert G. Demeterové a J. Tůmy
• Věčné sliby - David Horáček
• Noc kostelů 2011

Aktuality

• Information
• Guided Tour with a Concert
• I have expected... Do I have to run away?
• New exhibition in the Museum of Pilgrimage
• SOS Organ