Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie v Bechyni Church

The church is part of the Franciscan monastery in the South Bohemian town of Bechyni and forms a protected whole with it. It is a construction of a late Gothic character that combines various architectural influences - from the traditional pre-Hussite hall layout to the stimuli adopted from Saxony.

The floor plan of the church consists of a main double boat and a single boat presbytery, which connects the double boat asymmetrically - directly to its left boat. The church is oriented: the main entrance is located from the west, by the old town, while the presbytery heads towards the east with a deviation to the southeast. The church can be entered by three different entrances - the main from the west, from the ambition of the entrance on the left side of the presbytery or through the passage through the extension of the Baroque chapel.

Immediately after entering the main entrance, the visitor finds himself under the baroque crust, which was only built into the Gothic space in 1634. The bark is drawn out by two arches and undercut by a cross arch without ribs - a deliberate imitation of goth, so that the structure does not lose its unity. Unfortunately, this construction destroyed one of the most valuable late Gothic fresco of the monastery complex: it depicted the Last Court and today only two small parts - one under the bark, the other above. The organ is placed on the bark today. In the space below it stands a late gothic sprinkler dating from the 16th century, decorated with a vegetable decoration intertwined with dry branches. Wendel Roskopf, a builder and sculptor, is considered to be the likely author, who at the time of its creation worked on the nearby chateau of Bechynia.

The area of the main double ship was completed around 1500. The cladding is divided into eight identical arches - otherwise also diamond arches. It creates penetration of many parts of rolled vaults; The transitions between them create patterns that resemble diamonds, i.e. diamond squares. It is a typical element of late Gothic architecture and also the only kind of Gothic vault that lacks ribs. Individual fields always run directly from the wall, without connections or console; In the middle of the vault space, they carry three round columns, at the bottom end with eight-sided feet. The double ship measures approximately 27 meters in length, 13 metres in width and reaches a height of about 10 metres. It is illuminated by three broken windows with a stone circle - one in the right side of the east wall, two in the south wall. The space is still used for worship.

The presbytery, separated from the double boat by a distinct quarry with a massive stone rib, is approximately two metres lower than the double boat. In the east there is a five-side ending, with a high Gothic window in each of the five sides with a four-flared stone circle; three other windows with the same pattern are on the right side. On the left, the windows are reduced and placed above due to the adjacent building of ambition. The presbytery is covered by a network vault of the so-called Milevsky type - according to the relative vault from the monastery in Milevsko. The brick ribs with their crosses create the impression of the net, most of which have only a decorative function in this part, not a carrier function. The embellishment is revived by the characters of the main benefactors of the Becyne monastery - for example, the Golden Star of the House of Sternberk - located in the place of the main terminals. The entire vault of the presbytery runs out of the needle brackets located around the wall.

Whoever seeks an honest late Gothic architecture outside the crowded tourist routes, Bechyně is worth a stop. The church offers a rare example of the vaults, whose geometric rigor still gives respect, while reminding us how baroque reconstruction has been able to indefinitely absorb older, equally valuable layers.