Kostel svatého Jiljí (Dvorce) Church

The Church of Saint Aegidius in Dvorce near Bruntál was built between 1753 and 1755 on the site of an older church. Today it is a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

According to written records, a parsonage in Dvorce is documented as early as 1339. The original church was wooden and was later replaced by a stone structure. In the second half of the sixteenth century, a tower was added to it. At the same time, Dvorce was Lutheran. Lutheranism was introduced there from 1538 by the vicar Jan Taufer. A turning point came in 1630 when a Catholic vicar took office in the town and began the recatholization.

In 1751, the entire town burned down, including the church. A new church then arose under the patronage of Prince Václav Liechtenstein. It too did not escape fire. In 1834 it was damaged by another fire. This time the repair was overseen by Prince Jan Josef Liechtenstein, and in 1858 the church was reconsecrated. In 1888, the tower received a new bell chamber.

Between 2011 and 2012, the roof of the tower and the façades were repaired. Restorers also put the tower clock back into operation. During this work, a weather vane was removed from the tower. Dates of earlier repairs were carved onto it, 1698, 1826, and 1837, and the year 1755 was engraved. Documents from 1888 were found in a box in the cupola. A replica of the weather vane was then returned to the tower, and a new box with period documents and coins was placed in the cupola.

The church is a single-nave neoclassical structure, oriented to the east, with a semicircular choir. A sacristy with an oratory on the upper floor adjoins it from the north. A stone with the date 1753 is placed in the choir. A prismatic tower from the sixteenth century stands in front of the western façade. Its neo-Gothic bell chamber from 1888 was also fitted with a clock mechanism manufactured by the Bruntál company Schneider.

New bells were cast in 1837 by Wolfgang Stanek from Olomouc. However, the army confiscated them during the First World War for military purposes. Further bells were made in 1925 by the company Richard Herold from Chomutov.

The first organ with fourteen stops was built in 1757 by Lobgesang from Andělská Hora. In 1840, it was replaced by a new instrument by Franz Harbich from Brno. The woodcarving work on it was carried out by Antonín Sabinský from Budišov and Josef Jahn from Dvorce.

The main altar was moved in 1897 to the Chapel of Saint Catherine. A new altar by Ferdinand Stufflesser was created in its place. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was replaced by an altar from the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk in Karlovec.