kostel svatého Jana Křtitele (Velké Losiny) Church

The church serves as a parish temple of the local Roman Catholic parish and is protected as a cultural monument since 1958. Its premises attract attention not only to believers but also to interested in the history of Czech architecture and construction of the late Renaissance.

The beginnings of sacral life at this place date back to 1351, when for the first time in writing it is referred to in the Los Angeles church, allegedly wooden and extensive. In 1599, by order of John Jr. of Žerotín, owner of the estate there, this building was demolished. The wood was used to build three smaller churches around it - in Maršíkov, Zárová and Klepáčov. A new brick church was built in the same place between 1599 and 1603, which is referred to as the builder Antonio Thoma, a builder known from other sacral buildings in the Šumper region.

The original building was designed for evangelical Lutheran services. The interior layout corresponded to this purpose - a simple interior with bleachers, a ship with a vaulted vaults lined with empores and a massive sandstone altar with the award of the Baptist Christ in presbytery. The church had a single boat without a separate priesthood. In the western part there was a square tower, which was later raised to 32 meters and adjusted to its windows and floors. On the east side, the church closes the polygonal conclusion.

After 1620, the interior was gradually transformed for Catholic services. The original equipment was replaced alternately by Baroque, rococo and classical furniture and paintings. The most extensive construction modifications took place in 1784, when the presbyteria was broken down by empores, a new oratory was established and the order was changed. The stone altar fell into the background and a large altar painting of St. John the Baptist was placed on the wall behind the new altar by the Brno theatre painter Pachmayera.

A significant part of the church is the Baroque chapel of St. Cross built in 1724-1725 on the north side at the command of Jan Ludvik of Žerotín. It is a polygonal chapel in Baroque style serving as a funeral chapel and tomb of the family Žerotín. The chapel contains forty-four funeral homes, where family members rest in coffins hidden in the walls of the gallery. The sculpture decoration of the chapel was created by Jiří Antonín Heinz, who worked for Žerotín in the 1920s and 1930s, and its paintings are attributed to Jan Kryštof Handke, even though he survived only a fraction of them.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, fundamental changes could no longer be made to the construction. In 1873 the old cemetery around the church was abolished and some tombstones were left on its walls. Between 2004 and 2016, the costal facade underwent a gradual renewal. At the entrance there is a cross from 1807 dedicated to Johannes Thiel and the sculpture from 1813. The interior is encapsulated with a massive vaulted arch with lunettes and stucco decoration, which still bears witness to the wealth of its time.