Kostel Panny Marie (Broumov) Church

The Church of the Virgin Mary, called "Pod lipami" or "At our dear lady's house," is located in the city cemetery in Broumov in the district of Náchod. It is a cemetery church of considerable historical records - an exceptional witness to the oldest sacral architecture in Czech countries.

According to local legend, the church was founded in 1177, shortly after the foundation of the village itself in 1171. The legendary tradition states that it was built by a pagan noblewoman who baptized at this place and gave the church her pearl headband, today in the city museum. The first reliable written mention dates back to 1383, when the church is listed as an "old parish church" or "Czech church." The construction we know today is from 1449. But the church returned to life after serious injuries of Hussite wars - in June 1421 it was besieged by Hussite troops led by Czechek of Vartemberk and Hynek Krušiny of Lichtenburg. They may not have conquered the city, but they robbed it and destroyed the Church of the Virgin Mary. After the disaster, the medieval builders began to repair and modified the construction in the 16th century and later in 1811. In the middle of the 18th century a new bell tower was added over the priesthood and a new altar with sacristy was created. During the 18th century, the church also got its present appearance, when in 1779 on the Prussian order was dismantled the prussian mantle of the trek.

Architecturally, it is a one-ship building built on a stone suspect with oak thresholds and a raked oak construction with the beating of planks inside and out. Around the church is an open gallery with a counter roof. Originally he had two doors - on the west and north side with Gothic portals - the third entrance to the sacristy came later. The interior with the wreck on the west side is divided into ships, priesthood with triangular closure and sacristy. The floor and ceiling are made of oak beams.

The unique beauty of the church are ceiling paintings - white motifs on a red-brown background with plant elements, hunting scenes (rabbits, deer), heraldic characters (gryf, spleen eagle) and texts in the Gothic fracture. While older researchers dated them until the pre-Hussite era, newer research sees them as part of the reconstruction after 1450. Similar decoration is also found on wooden churches in southern Poland. The main altar dates back to the middle of the 18th century in the late Baroque style, with a modern copy of the Virgin Mary Lourdes. The former medieval statue of the Virgin Mary of Milhová (Mater Amabilis Braunae) from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries was transferred in the 19th century to the monastery church of St. Vojtěv.

Today the church is a national cultural monument declared in 2008. It is a testament to the construction skills of medieval carpenters and an example of how wooden construction, repaired and protected for centuries, can withstand even the most bitter trials.