Klášter dominikánů (Turnov) Monastery

The Dominican monastery in Turnov is one of the important traces of medieval spiritual life in Bohemia. The Dominicans founded it around 1250 on the initiative of Havel of Lemberg, the husband of St. Zdislava, who is deeply worshipped in these countries. The monastery gradually became a centre around which many activities of the local Christian community concentrated.

Especially after the arrival of Mr Vartenberk, the monastery enjoyed their support and became one of the most important institutions in the region. These nobles have gathered around the Dominican brothers and created their family tomb here. In 1325, Beneš z Vartenberka won full indulgences for the Turkish Dominicans in Rome, which significantly increased the attractiveness of the monastery for believers. Similarly, they were involved over time and other members of the family who remembered it with numerous references and gifts. At the initiative of Markarta of Vartenberg, the Bishop of Olomouc Jan to the monastery church 40 days of indulgence for those who visit him during the Marian holidays and contribute alms.

The spirit that the monastery was living at the time suggests the last written message from 1410, when Jan Žáček z Hrdoňovic founded a foundation at the monastery. The monastery also had a permanent existence in the territory of modern Turnova - its main temple was a tripod Gothic building dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which contained eleven altars. This architecture was created gradually as the monastery developed and its position strengthened.

But the medieval monastery has not lived a long life. In 1424, during the Hussite wars, the Hussites burned it and completely leveled it. In this inevitable ordeal, also the dominicans who were present fell burned. Since then, the monastery buildings have not been restored, although the Church of the Virgin Mary has partially survived - it was restored in the mid-16th century and briefly served as a brotherly choir. The new fire affected the construction in 1643. Over time, the temple was in a desolate state. In 1736, Tomáš Pleiner from the Dominican monastery of St. Gilja managed to establish a Rosary Brotherhood at the church, which contributed to a certain revival of piety.

Nevertheless, the temple continued to be decrepit, the construction was in a state of emergency and threatened to collapse. That is why it was finally taken, and from 1825 to 1853 a new temple was built in its place in a pseudogotic style. From the original Dominican complex, only the foundations of the walls in the upper part of the former Mariánska Square were preserved - the latest, modest testimony of the medieval monastery, which was once one of the mental centers Turnova.