Fara (Suchdol nad Odrou) Parish house

Welcome to Suchdole over Odra. Right now, you're standing in front of a building that stands out in its elegance and grandeur in this region. Take a look at this building, which welcomes you with its balance and calm. It's a place where spiritual governance meets the history of education, and it's all wrapped up in a beautiful brawler of the Baroque era. The first impression that radiates from the building is a sense of order and symmetry. Notice how the structure extends in front of you with the main central part surrounded by two side wings. This whole set creates a harmonious whole that carries the spirit of the eighteenth century.

Let us now stop at how this building was created and who was behind it. Let's move back almost 300 years in time, to the year seven hundred thirty. It was this year that the construction was completed. But it was not an ordinary project by a local builder, but the work of one of the most important architects of his time. His name is Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. This man was a respected champion of Vienna, whose name is associated with the most important buildings of the time throughout Central Europe. Imagine what an honor it was for this place to leave a trail. The building was designed to serve as a parish, the seat of a spiritual parish administrator, but its functions were wider.

Now pay attention to the architecture itself. If you look at the overall shape, you'll see the symmetric composition just mentioned. The central part is storey and forms a dominant feature of the entire building, while the side wings complement it and close the space. It is typical of baroque style, which placed great emphasis on balance and representativeness. Even though you're out there now, let's try to imagine what's waiting for us inside. The interior is a real jewel. The building is decorated with rich baroque vaults. If you can see inside, note especially the rolled vaults with sections that create the game of space and light. The top is the main hall in the middle of the building. It ends with a pancake vault with a stucco mirror inserted in it. The stucco, therefore a fine plastic decoration made of limestone and plaster, was at that time a symbol of luxury and artistic taste. The whole building is one of the most important examples of Baroque architecture in the whole region.

When we think about the people who worked here, we have to go back to Johann Lucas von Hildebrand. Its influence is evident here in every detail, at every angle and in the overall layout of the space. This architect was able to transfer Viennese chic and large urban style into a quieter environment, creating a unique monument. But the building was not just a home for the clerics. Let us now reveal one interesting thing about how these spaces were used in the past. You may think the whole building was merely a rectory, but the truth is much more interesting. While the central part and the left wing actually formed space for the rectory, the right wing had a completely different purpose. This is where the school and the teacher's apartment were located. So imagine how in one building the duties of the church administration intertwined with the noise and joy of children who learned to read and write here. It was the center of the spiritual and intellectual life of the whole neighborhood.

This building is so valuable, the state recognized its irreplaceable meaning. Since the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-six it has been entered into the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic. This means that it is protected as a national treasure that must be preserved for future generations. In the year two thousand and seventeen, a great reconstruction of the parish building began to return its beauty and functionality to its original state and to prevent its decay. It is a constant struggle to preserve history, so that even you can stand before it today and admire its line.

Now if you look at the building as a whole again, try to perceive the atmosphere of the place. Imagine people in period clothes who came here centuries ago. Feel the silence that carries the stories of thousands of people passing through here. This rectory is not just a pile of rocks and mortar, it's a memory of the region inscribed in architecture. It is proof that even in smaller cities a world-class project could have been created, if it was worth a master like von Hildebrand.

I suggest you now go around the building and watch from different angles as the light hits it. Notice how it changes from its face when you approach or leave it. Try to imagine what she looked like in the year seven hundred thirty, shortly after her completion, when she was new in the landscape.

Thank you for stopping by this beautiful Baroque building. I hope you're interested in her history and architecture. It is now up to you to continue to explore the surroundings of Suchdola nad Odra, or to stop in silence before this monument. I wish you a pleasant rest of the journey and many other wonderful experiences in discovering our historical treasures. Goodbye.