kostel sv. Havla s márnicí a ohradní zdí Building complex

St. Havel's church in Vrbatova Kostelec in Chrudim district is a one-ship oriented building with a Gothic core and baroque adaptations. Together with the Baroque morgue and the fenced wall, it is a complex of buildings protected as a real cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 3 November 2023. The monument serves as a parish church of the local parish.

The oldest mention of the church dates back to 1086 from the founding charter of the Abatovice monastery, in which the Czech king Vratislav II donated church property to the benedictines. However, nothing has been preserved from this original building until now. The Gothic church is mentioned in written sources in 1349 as a parish church connected to the bishopric of Litomyšl. After the Thirty Years' War, the parish disappeared and the church and the believers were joined to Zumberk. In 1787 there was established a locale and a matrix book started to be kept, in 1853 the locale was promoted to a parish within the church vicar.

The building is located in the centre of the village on the edge of the hill above the valley of the river Žejbro. The entire complex is defined by an oval area with a fenced wall, with a prism building adjacent to the former Baroque morgue in the northwest. The church has a flat ceiling and a five-sided gothic presbytery with one field of radiated rib arches. The main boat and the prism tower in the facade come from the Renaissance period, while the superstructure of the bell floor was created in the early 19th century. The facades are broken down by lisenas, plastered with white paint and the saddle roof is covered by etternite templates. Above the presbytery from the roof copper sandbox tower.

During the reconstruction in 1986, after removing the plaster, it was shown that a significant part of the masonry of the ship was of medieval origin. Walled elements were discovered, namely a gothic nimble portal in the axis of the southern wall of the ship with two sharp windows on the sides and a window with a gothic circle in the axis of the presbytery. The Baroque modifications in the past brought an extension of the ship about 1.5 metres, an extension of the west tower and an increase of about two metres.

The interior is mostly modern. The main altar is decorated with a painting from 1899, created by the Chrudim painter František Muller. The ship has two valuable Baroque paintings from the post-1700 period, which depict St. Francis Xaversky and the Crucifixion, and are preserved in original frames. The Renaissance origin is a stone drop. The bell from 1539 is preserved in the tower.

Today, the parish Vrbatovy Kostelec is adminised ex currendo from the parish Chrast near Chrudim.

This complex of buildings represents a valuable architectural record layered from goth to baroque. It is an important place to understand the local history and religious development of the region. Visiting this building in Vrbatov Kostelec offers an opportunity to meet the authentic elements of medieval and modern construction.