Dominikánský klášter v Opavě Monastery

The Dominican monastery is situated in the centre of Opava between the streets of Bakar, Solna and Munich. Together with the church of St. Wenceslas, it is protected as a cultural monument. It is one of the important historical witnesses of the life of the medieval and early modern city.

The monastery was founded on 1st September 1291 by Prince Nicholas I. Opavský in the northern part of the city near the city walls. The fact that the monastery was at least partially completed in the early 14th century attests to the fact that there was a provincial chapter of the Czech Dominican province on 7 June 1321.

The period of Reformation and counter-Reformation brought the monastery a difficult test. In 1542, the entire staff of the monastery, including Prior Leonhard Cypsensia, died of the plague. The Protestant secluded townspeople immediately took advantage of the situation and seized the desolate monastery, taking possession of all the monastic and church valuables including the archive. Shortly afterwards, on 9 and 14 June 1556, two devastating fires hit Opava. At the first one, the Dominican monastery burned down. The fires were allegedly set by an arson group in the service of France and the Ottoman Empire. The monastery was thus only able to be repaired temporarily. In February 1585, an angry crowd of the townspeople of Opava invaded the monastery and plundered it. Only some local nobles who resisted the townspeople saved the life of the Dominicans.

In the early 18th century, Dominicans tried to revitalize the monastery. In order to gain space for the necessary extension, they agreed with the owners of five salt shops next to the monastery to remove the buildings. The construction of the new monastery building began on 5 April 1723. The builder Josef Rieth has committed himself to building a two-story building facing backwards into Salt Street with side wings east and west. He was supposed to live up to 700 gold pieces, 3 shefly rye and 3 barrels of beer. The carpenter Jakub Wildner built a double counter roof for 180 gold pieces, 3 shefles of rye, 2 shefels of barley and a keg of beer. Construction works took place until November 1723, then stopped and continued from February 1724. All works were completed by October 1724, although the costs exceeded the budget by 128 gold pieces.

However, financial problems have proved to be insoluble. The Dominicans themselves faced the great debt of the monastery. On 14 March 1786, Prior Sigisbert Sigl and sub-Prior Petr Müller wrote to the Moravian-Silesian Government that the monastery did not have enough resources to feed and dress its members. Emperor Josef II decided on June 17, 1786 to cancel the monastery. On 20 October 1786 the Mass was last served in the monastery church and after it was completed, all remaining assets were transferred to the new administrator. By this act, nearly five centuries of the Dominican Order in Opava ended.

In modern times, the monastery is taken care of by the Opava Cultural Organization, whose administration the building and the church moved to in 2007.