Kostel svatého Mikuláše (Lomnice nad Popelkou) Church

The Church of Saint Nicholas, often referred to as the Church of Saint Nicholas of Bari, is a Roman Catholic parish church in Lomnice nad Popelkou. This well-preserved late Baroque structure stands in the lower part of the town square and prominently dominates the historic center of the town. It is protected as a cultural monument.

The parish church at this location is first mentioned in the year thirteen fifty-four. In fifteen oh five it was rebuilt, and in fifteen ninety it burned down during a city fire. Two years later a stone church with a wooden bell tower was erected here. In seventeen sixty-seven, Reverend Václav Hegler wanted to build a new church below the rectory, but the public and town councillors wished for it to remain on the square. The reverend gave in, and so the new structure was built on the site of the old one.

The old church was demolished in seventeen eighty-one. From it only a crypt and two marble tombstones were preserved, belonging to the owners of Lomnice, Václav Štěpanický z Valdštejna and his wife Eliška z Martinic. The cornerstone of the new church was laid on June thirteenth, seventeen eighty-one, and it was built according to a design by Anton Teimer. The very next year, on the feast of Saint Václav, the church was consecrated by the bishop of Hradec Králové, Jan Leopold Hay. By the year seventeen eighty-five the decoration was completed and organs were brought into the church.

A heavy blow came in the year eighteen forty-nine. A great fire struck the church and part of the town. Only the outer walls remained, part of the vault collapsed, and the interior furnishings were destroyed. The repairs were financed by the estate owner Kamil Rohan and the work lasted until eighteen fifty-two. The collapsed main facade never regained its original appearance. The interior paintings were restored only in the year eighteen ninety-seven. The last major restoration took place in two thousand and two, after which the church was reconsecrated.

It is a single-nave structure on a rectangular floor plan. To the east it is closed by a narrowed chancel with a two-story sacristy. Above the chancel rises a slender sanctus bell tower with a bell from fifteen ninety-one, which was recast in seventeen fifty-six. Above the main entrance is an iron coat of arms of the Rohans, donors of the church and the last owners of the Lomnice estate.

Inside, the woodcarving works of Jan Hájek z Kosmonos stand out, particularly the altars, pulpit, and baptismal font. Hájek also decorated the facade. The decoration was also influenced by Prague painter Fidelius Weibel. The Baroque organ was destroyed by fire and in eighteen eighty-two it was replaced by an instrument by Joseph Kobrle, a Lomnice organ builder.

Around the church there was a cemetery until the year sixteen fifty-two. After Swedish plundering and plague it was no longer sufficient, so a new one was established outside the town. By the church today stands a cross from a folk mission from the year two thousand and four, and there is also a memorial plaque to composer František Doubravský, who worked here as a choir director and organist.