Kostel Nejsvětější Trojice (Suchá) Church

The Church of the Holy Trinity in the center of the village of Suchá u Nechanic in the Hradec Králové Region is a subsidiary church of the Nechanice parish and has been protected as a cultural monument since 2007. The building draws on centuries of tradition – an original Gothic church once stood on the same site, with roots dating back to the period of 1350–1384.

The first church was a wooden Gothic structure with an area of eighty-three square meters, commissioned by local nobles. Around 1850, the Harrach family arrived in the village, and finding the old church beyond repair, they had it demolished. Remains from the cemetery that had formed around the church over the centuries were moved to a new burial site. In 1885, Jan Nepomuk Harrach established a new neo-Gothic church on this site. The building was designed by architect J. Šmída and built by J. Pošepný from Jilemnice. In an unusual manner for the time, the entire village participated in the construction, allowing the work to be completed in just two years – by 1887. The new church preserves three bells from the original church, among which is a particularly valuable bell, seventy-five centimeters high, featuring a Gothic lily pattern that has been preserved in excellent condition. An older bell from 1561, cast by Jan the bellfounder from Hradec, was later placed in the bell tower.

The brick construction with a sandstone ashlar plinth exhibits characteristic features of the Gothic style. The main portal on the western facade features a pointed recessed arch with a saddle roof; an equilateral cross floats within the tympanum. The side entrance on the southern side bears the Harrach family coat of arms in its tympanum. A square tower was added later, replacing the original wooden tower. The tower is divided into three sections: the lowest contains a portal and a pointed window, the middle features a rectangular window, and the highest part is the bell chamber with a pointed window. Above the bell chamber are now non-functional clocks, and above them, the Harrach family crest – three peacock feathers set into a golden sphere.

The interior evokes the atmosphere of Gothic traditions. The chancel, with its two bays of rib vaulting, is separated from the nave by a triumphal arch. The paintings symbolize the celestial vault, and the grooved ribs are brought down into simple, geometric-shaped corbels. In the western part, an ambulatory rises, supported by a three-aisled pointed arcade. The motif of the equilateral cross – the shining cross – is repeated in the wall paintings and other decorations. Biblical scenes depicting the Crucifixion are spread around the perimeter of the nave.

Shortly after its creation – at its peak of prosperity – Suchá had four hundred and twenty inhabitants. However, after 1946, religious life gradually began to decline. Since the 1980s, the church had been closed and falling into disrepair. It was only from 1996, through the initiative of local people, that restoration began. Without the status of a cultural monument, the work was very difficult, until it was protected by the authorities in 2007. Repairs began the following year, with the decisive involvement of the civic organization Hradecký venkov. In May 2013, the church reopened to the faithful, and in October of the same year, it was consecrated by parish priest Josef Socha.