kostel Matky Boží Church

The Church of Our Lady in Oslavany is a Roman Catholic church in the area of a former castle and monastery, which is protected as a cultural monument. Today it serves as a filial church of the Oslavany parish.

Its origins are connected with a convent of Cistercian nuns. The church began to be built together with the monastery, possibly as early as 1225. According to archaeological research, a basilica-style three-aisled church with a three-aisled choir section was to be created. From that time, Romanesque side chapels have been preserved to this day. Construction also continued on the rest of the church, as evidenced by a partially preserved saddle-back portal in the former western façade. The side aisles in front of this façade extended into separate chapels and their dividing walls were meant to support an upper gallery.

In 1228, the church was consecrated by Bishop Robert in the presence of King Přemysl Otakar the First and his wife Konstancie. The consecration apparently took place in the completed presbytery, which temporarily served for worship during construction.

Then the plans changed. Instead of a basilica, a hall church with three aisles was to be built. However, after the vaults of the intermediate arcades were completed, serious structural damage appeared and the project had to be revised again. The construction was reinforced with a system of quarter-arches, had to be restructured, and instead of an upper gallery at the western façade, a choir gallery was created. At that time, the church had no vault and the presbytery had a flat ceiling as well.

Around 1240, the apse of the presbytery was demolished. It was replaced by an early Gothic polygonal section with a radiating vault, which the entire presbytery then received. At the end of the fourteenth century, the south aisle was demolished or collapsed on its own. During repairs, the choir gallery was adjusted and above it a brick bell tower was built.

In the first third of the sixteenth century, the monastery passed into secular hands. Eventually it was acquired by the Althan family and at the end of the sixteenth century they converted it into a castle. The church was modified at that time and in 1583 a Renaissance vestibule with a gallery was added to the choir of the former south aisle. The original aisle of the church later became a granary, but the castle chapel in the choir section continued to serve until 1930.

In 1952, some individual elements were conserved, otherwise the church along with the entire castle area deteriorated during the socialist period. At the end of the nineteen-eighties, an archaeological investigation took place there and afterwards the side chapels of the choir were restored. In 2003, the church was consecrated again. Between 2019 and 2022, the interior of the chapel and its sacristy underwent reconstruction.