Kostel svaté Kunhuty (Královské Poříčí) Church

The church of St. Kunhuta in the small village Královské Poříčí in the district of Sokolov is one of the cultural monuments protected since 1963. It is a one-ship building that tells the story of more than 800 years of building changes in its architecture.

The dedication of the temple of St. Kunhuta is quite rare in the Czech Republic and points to a special history of the foundation of the village. It is believed that Královské Poříčí was founded by German colonizers, probably from the Bamberk area, where Saint Kunhuta was particularly revered. These immigrants seem to have dedicated their patrons here.

The first written mention of the church dates back to 1240, when the Czech king Václav I. awarded the order of cruisers with red star patronage to the temple. It can be assumed that the church was built shortly before this date. In extensive reconstruction in the 1990s, valuable Romanesque elements were discovered - especially a small window in the south wall and stone lining of the portal - which clearly confirm the origin of the construction from the beginning of the thirteenth century.

At the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the church underwent a major reconstruction. It was joined by a baroque hall on the west side and an eight-metre-long presbytery with polygonal closure. Above the presbytery, a 13-metre high sanctus tower ends with onion fighting. The church acquired a new saddle roof and was probably reconsecrated in 1701. Although its middle age was transformed into a simple baroque style, rare Romanes- Gothic elements were preserved in the construction.

The facade of the temple is decorated with fresco created in 1933 by Sokolovsky painter and graphic artist Tony Schönecker. Its central motive is the character of the man sower, supplemented by the motifs of daily prayer and working activities typical of this mountainous area.

The church presents itself richly in its interior. On the wooden baroque circle in the main ship there are rococo organ from the end of the eighteenth century created by the organist Anton Müller of Kraslic, the founder of the influential organist family in Cheb. The presbytery is covered with a cross vault with lunnets. The main altar from the first half of the eighteenth century carries figural reliefs from the life of St. Kunhuta. The altar painting from the first half of the nineteenth century, which depicts St. Kunhutu itself, is the work of the elk artist Hermann Kugler.

The interior was kept by older gems - the targeting bell with the date of 1302 visел in the tower until World War II. The interesting question remains its origin: the inscription on the bell is "Saint Wenceslas, stand by us" and thus turns to the Czech patron rather than to the patron saint of the church, which suggests that the bell probably was not originally created for this construction.

Outside the church is a statue of St. John Nepomuk and three peace crosses. One of them - a stone monolithic cross with a wedge head and an engraving of the cross - is in itself protected as a cultural monument. The church thus represents not only the architectural but also the piety centre of this village.