Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie (Ročov) Church

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Lower Ročov is located in the district of Louny and belongs to exceptional Baroque buildings of the Czech environment. The building was created in 1746-1750 as a substitute for an older Gothic church from the end of the 14th century. The author of the project was an important architect Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, who thus put together today's form. At the core of the pilgrimage cult, however, the element remains much older - the Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary, 1.5 metres high, which tradition attaches to the gift of 1373 from Albrecht the Elder of Kolowrat to the then Augustinian monastery.

The history of the place dates back to the time of the monastery. Soon after its founding, the respect for the love Madonna spread throughout the Lounian Podlesi. Around the statue, the tradition of pilgrimage, which lasted even in the Pohusite era, formed by the procedure of времени. The Catholic faith remained uninterrupted in Podlesí, and so the pilgrimage continued in the New Testament. Every year I went through many processions, especially about the annual pilgrimage linked to a special prayer text called the Ročov Healthy, composed directly in honor of this statue. At the beginning of the 20th century, almost 15,000 pilgrims came here on average every year. Tradition also lives at present, when regular pilgrimage takes place here.

Architecturally, the church is a one-ship building of a baroque style with a rectangular plan. The facade is decorated with rizalite with a pair of towers whose corners are rounded and rounded with detached bans. The Rizalite on the ground floor is decorated with half-pillars, and the Pillasters on the floor. Part of the facade is also a niche with a statue of Madonna. The statues of St. Augustine and St. Monica on the facade come from the workshop Ignatius František Weiss. The presbytery is covered with a dome on the pendants, and the ship is rolled by a vault with lunnets. The ceiling is decorated with frescoes by A. Smichaea of Louns created in 1750-1760, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary and the Ascension of the Lord.

The main altar from 1748 by the sculptor's workshop F. I. Weiss is the most valuable interior installation. It's a pillar altar ended with a baldachin carrying a Marian crown, carried by angels. In the rococo box on the altar is placed the central reality - the Gothic statue from the end of the 14th century. In honor of this statue, silver clothing was acquired in 1723, which now lies in the National Museum in Prague. The statue of Madonna holds bread and grapes in one hand, and in the other Jesus. There are six other altars in the ship, four of which come from the second quarter of the 18th century and are dedicated to St. Augustine, St. Monica, St. John of Nepomuk and St. Anna.

The church remains an important place of living piety. Friday's manager is Jan Mária Valt. A centuries-old tradition of Pilgrimage comes to life for visitors here every season, and one of the most beautiful examples of Baroque sacral architecture in the Czech boiler can be seen here.