kostel svaté Máří Magdaleny (Chvalšiny) Church

The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene stands in the upper part of the square in Chvalšiny in the Český Krumlov region. It originated at a crossroads. One road led from Český Krumlov to Prachatice, the other headed towards Horní Planá and further into Austria. With its massive form, it shapes the character of the square and determines the panorama of the village, which is clearly visible from the surrounding hills.

A early Gothic church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene already stood in this place around the middle of the thirteenth century. It was most likely surrounded by a cemetery from the beginning. At the beginning of the eighties of the fifteenth century, the guilds together with the town decided to rebuild and enlarge the church. The plan and construction were taken over by a stonemason master who was at that time building the church of Saint Catherine in Hořice. The new presbytery and sacristy were measured out around the old presbytery, so services could continue there.

The construction is documented by dates preserved directly in the church. By the end of the eighties of the fifteenth century, the sacristy with an ossuary was completed, in the year 1494 the presbytery was vaulted, and in the year 1499 the southern vestibule with a representative entrance portal was finished. The tower was first founded separately and the walls of the nave were attached to it only later.

Around the year 1500, Hans Getzinger from Haslach took over the construction of the nave. He was the chief builder of the Rožmberk building workshop and also worked on churches in Zátov and in Rožmberk. In the year 1507, the oriel window on the western gable and the roof were completed. Between the years 1507 and 1514, Getzinger had the nave vaulted with a ribbed vault and had his name painted in its apex. At the same time, a monumental painting of the Last Judgment was created.

The church is single-naved with a presbytery of two bays, ending in a three-sided shape. A sacristy adjoins it from the north and below it is a vaulted ossuary. A rectangular nave with four vaulted bays is accessed by a portal in the southern vestibule. On the southern side rises a prismatic tower with a pyramidal roof, and in the corner next to it stands a staircase annex.

The church underwent numerous modifications over the centuries, yet it retained its late Gothic appearance. In the middle of the seventeenth century it was modified in an early Baroque style, and in the years 1886 and 1887 in a Neo-Gothic style. In the year 1760, a central Marian chapel, the so-called Rosary Chapel, was added on the northern side. The only significant intervention in the overall composition came in the year 1773, when the tower was heightened. The original height is still revealed by the gargoyles above the clock storey.