The Holy Trinity in Olomouc

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The Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc is a magnificent Baroque monument built in 17161754.

The main purpose was a spectacular celebration of Catholic Church and faith, partly caused by feeling of gratitude for ending a plague, which struck Moravia between 1714 and 1716.

This monument was the work of several artists. The first to die during the work was Wenzel Render, a monumental mason and privileged imperial architect. He came first with the idea to build the column, enforced his will upon the city council, designed it, built the first stage and helped to finance it. His followers Franz Thoneck, Johann Wenzel Rokický and Augustin Scholtz also did not live long enough to see the column finished; it was completed by Johann Ignaz Rokický. The splendid sculptural decoration was started by Phillip Sattler. After his death Andreas Zahner continued and made 18 sculptures and 9 reliefs in 7 years before he died as well. Goldsmith Simon Forstner, who made gilded copper sculptures of the Holy Trinity and of the Assumption of the Virgin, was somewhat luckier and managed to finish his brilliant work. However he lost his health when working on the sculptures and using toxic mercury compounds during the gilding process.

After the Holy Trinity Column was finished in 1754, it became a source of great pride for Olomouc, since all people participating in its creation were citizens of the town. The column was consecrated in a great celebration attended by Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I.

Only four years later, when Olomouc was besieged by a Prussian army and the Holy Trinity Column was hit by shots from Prussian cannons several times, Olomouc citizens went bravely in a procession to beg the Prussian general not to shoot at this sacred monument. General James Keith complied with their wishes. The column was repaired soon after the war and a replica of a stone shot was half-buried in its stem on the place where it was hit to remind people of this event.

The column is dominated by gilded copper sculptures of the Holy Trinity accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel on the top and the Assumption of the Virgin beneath it.

The base of the column, in three levels, is surrounded by 18 more stone sculptures of saints and 14 reliefs in elaborate cartouches. At the uppermost stage are saints connected with Jesus earth life his mothers parents St. Anne and St. Joachim, his foster-father St. Joseph, and St. John the Baptist, who was preparing his coming who are accompanied by St. Lawrence and St. Jerome, saints to whom the chapel in the Olomouc town hall was dedicated. Three reliefs represent the Three theological virtues Faith, Hope, and Love.

Below them, the second stage is dedicated to Moravian saints St. Cyril and St. Methodius (Czech Metoděj), who came to Great Moravia to spread Christianity in 863 (St. Methodius became Moravian Archbishop), St. Blaise, in whose name one of the main Olomouc churches is consecrated, and patrons of neighbouring Bohemia St. Adalbert of Prague (Czech Vojtěch) and St. John of Nepomuk (Czech Jan Nepomucký), whose cult was very strong here as well.

In the lowest stage one can see the figures of an Austrian patron St. Maurice and a Bohemian patron St. Wenceslas (Czech Václav), in whose names two important Olomouc churches were consecrated, another Austrian patron St. Florian, who was also viewed as a protector against various disasters, especially fire, St. John of Capistrano (Czech Jan Kapistránský), who used to preach in Olomouc, St. Anthony of Padua, a member of the Franciscan Order, which owned an important monastery in Olomouc, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a patron of students. His sculpture showed that Olomouc was very proud of its university.

Reliefs of all twelve apostles are placed among these sculptures.

The last missing in this list of saints is St. John Sarkander (Czech Jan Sarkander), whose statue (holding a lily as a symbol of purity) is on the second stage. John Sarkander was a priest who was tortured to death in Olomouc prison in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, because he, as the legend says, refused to break the seal of confession. Decision to place him here was very extraordinary and violated the tradition, since Sarkander had not been canonized and not even beatified in that time yet, which could have resulted in problems with the Holy See. However, his cult of a martyr was so strong here that the craftsmen decided to take the risk. Sarkander was beatified in 1859 and canonized in 1995 on the occasion of the visit of Pope John Paul II in Olomouc.

There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- http://www.ceepackaging.com .

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Holy
• Trinity
• Column
• Olomouc
• Moravia
• Czech
• Republic

[ISB]

Interesting vid, Alan. Also thanks for the detailed description. We also had (Novi Sad, Serbia) quite large (20 metres) Holy Trinity column that proudly stood in city's main square from 1781 until 1945, and then communists removed/destroyed it. At least I have photos of it to comfort me and remind me of some happier times, eh... cheers, Milan

[alanheath]

@ISB That is terrible! I am a hard core, born again atheist but I appreciate the beauty of these structures - as I do the ringing of church bells and singing from miniarettes.

I was in Novi Sad in 1995 - wish I had spent more time there!

[zeeannemoon61]

just seen the film of Norwich cathedral its beautiful thanks, thats what i love about England being surrounded by history like being in a timeworp.

[zeeannemoon61]

i wanted to make some pictures of the cathedral but i'd just bought a new camera and didnt know it needed a memory card well maybe next time then i will make a film of it and put it on you tube.

[thine1296]

wow

[alanheath]

But Diana + Charles was THE Royal Wedding. I don't think anything will beat that. I suppose the only thing that came close historically was Victoria's Platinum Jubilee in 1897 (not that I remember that).

I had met a German girl called Cristina and I was supposed to go with her to the wedding do but she did not call me. So I went by myself. A big firework display in Hyde Park the previous day and full day of national celebrations the next.

I don't remember so much about the Fergie do!

[xbritishgirlx]

yea i bet that was a nice one too

[alanheath]

Yes, sorry for not being specific.

I was in Victoria Street and there were a lot of horses. I had a bad allergy to horses and this rather got me and spoilt the day.

Part of a huge ten week tour - from Spain to Finland and from the UK to Turkey!

[xbritishgirlx]

you mean sarahs wedding?

[alanheath]

Indeed it was a great day. We got a day off work and there were huge amounts of people in the street. I regret not sleeping out in the Mall or something like that as friends of mine did. There was a great feeling of Britishness, even though only a short time earlier there had been riots not so far away. Wonderful experience!

I turned up for the next Royal wedding five years later but it just was not the same!

[xbritishgirlx]

ohhhhhh i bet that was lovely to see the wedding i wasnt born to see it lol am 5 months younger than harry lol

[xbritishgirlx]

very true!