Kostel svatého Martina v Cerhovicích Church

Kostел Saint Martin dedicated to the patron saint of pilgrims and soldiers stands in the heart of the village Cerhovice on Beroun in Central Bohemia. Since 2006, he has been a Filial Church of the Parish of Žebrák, formerly based here his own parish.

The first historical references are known about the chaplain operating in Cerhovice in 1329. The oldest documented report of the church itself dates back to 1367, when there was a construction made of wood, which was later hit by devastating fire destruction. Today's church was built in the 15th century, and the brothers Bedřich and Hanuš z Kolovrat were connected to its construction, whose patronage rights to the church were documented in 1421. The construction was then faced with further testing - the fire accidents became fatal in 1678 and 1728. After the second fire, its appearance changed: in the period after 1728, the construction was rebuilt from the original Gothic style to the Baroque style. The formal consecration was then carried out in 1825, when Josef Vorel was a vicar. He later became famous in the broader ecclesiastical context - on 11 May 1842 he led the marriage of Karl Jaromír Erben in the jane of the approaching masonry. The church underwent further modernization in 1871, when building modifications were made to the building itself and to the parish office. Two years later, the church clock was restored. The last major reconstruction took place in 1948, when the church was equipped with a new plaster, renewed clock figures and replaced roof.

Architecturally, it is a one-ship rectangular structure with a massive prism tower on the south side. The presbytery is closed by polygonal emporium and equipped with a gothic rib arch with embossed decoration. The ship has a wall image of Christ surrounded by saints, dating back to 1735 and being the work of Franz Ferdinand Müller. The main altar is a pseudo-gothic piece with a dry marble menza and a golden white tabernacle with e-mail decorations representing four evangelists. The four side altars come from the first half of the 18th century in the Baroque - one dedicated to the Virgin Mary with a painting by Rudolf C. Kripner, the other dedicated to Jan Nepomucký around 1740, the third Holy Cross and the fourth St. Joseph. Other determinable elements are baroque tin baptizer and wooden pulpit. The church contains a plaster statue of St. Wenceslas, which originally stood in Mayer's brewery, and another statue of St. Teresa with Jesus. The windows are decorated with stained glass, which is allegedly from the same master who made the windshield in the Prague Cathedral of St. Vitus. The church organ is a work from 1912. In the Monograph of Hořovicka and Berounska from 1928, the Cerhovický church is designated as one of the most beautifully decorated temples in Bohemia.

The bells are also an important part. The main bell of St. Martin was poured out in 1746, weighing 350 kilograms and has a diameter of 84 centimetres. The second bell dedicated to St. John Nepomuk and St. Wenceslas weighs 170 kilograms with a diameter of 66 cm. In a small tower there is a small sanctus bell with a picture of the Virgin Mary with a diameter of 28 cm. During the wars many bells were taken away, but at least the bell of St. John Nepomuk and St. Wenceslas returned.

The church is still the place of the spiritual life of the village and its architecture and decoration remains a testament to several centuries of Czech sacral culture.