kostel svaté Máří Magdaleny (Chvalšiny) Church

The church of St. Mary Magdalena is located in the upper part of the village square Chvalšiny in the district of Český Krumlov in the South Bohemia region. It is a late Gothic temple that was built at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries and represents one of the most fundamental urban elements of its location. Its massive prismatic tower and sophisticated building material defines the character of the square and creates a characteristic panorama of the village, visible from virtually all surrounding hills.

Today's form of church grows from the decision of the guilds and the town from the 1980s to rebuild and enlarge the original early Gothic church, which stood here around the middle of the 13th century. The construction began by measuring the foundations of the sacristy and the priesthood in 1487, when the sacristy was also completed. In 1494 the priesthood was sealed, in 1499 the south hall was built with a representative entrance portal. Around 1500 he took over the construction of the ship Hans Getzinger from Haslach, which belonged to the main builders of the Rozberg construction plant and worked on churches in Zatoni and Rožmberk. Under his guidance, in 1507 a ship was completed with a bay on the western shield and subsequently, between 1507 and 1514, let Getzinger cover the ship with a net vault and paint his name into its peak. A monumental painting of the Last Court was created during this period. The construction later had an early Baroque finish in the mid-17th century, in 1760 the central Marian chapel on the north side, and in 1773 the tower increased. The last major changes were made in the form of neo-gothic renovations between 1886 and 1887.

The construction form corresponds to a single-boat type with a tripod ending in a priesthood of two fields. The rectangular boat contains four arches and is accessible by a portal in the south hall. On the north side of the presbytery is attached sacristy with a vault basement serving as a skeleton. The tower with the needle roof grows at the south front of the boat, complementing it with a prism staircase in the southwest corner. Despite numerous modifications, the church maintained the characteristic form of late goth.

The repeatedly mentioned position of the church at the crossroads from Český Krumlov to Prachatice and towards the Upper Plana and Austria reflects the importance of the Phalshins as the centre of the parish administration and testimony of the Christian faith in the region. The visitor will find in this temple not only architectural value, but also a symbol of eight centuries of continuity of liturgical life and development of building styles from the high Middle Ages to the modern ages.