Kostel svatého Prokopa (Dlouhá Třebová) Church

The Church of Saint Prokop in Dlouhá Třebová is a Roman Catholic church in the Neo-Gothic style. It is dedicated to the patron saint of the village and was built between 1905 and 1906. Although it is only a subsidiary church, it is a striking landmark of the village and ranks among its most important structures. However, the path to its construction took an entire century.

The idea of having its own church in Dlouhá Třebová emerged already at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Enthusiasts at that time began quarrying stone for the foundations and transporting it to the old bell tower, which had stood in the village since 1753. But money was lacking and the stone was used for something else. A second attempt at quarrying opal stone in 1830 did not help either. The stone hauled down to the valley to the school, where the church now stands, ultimately served to build a school fence.

A turning point came in 1855. Local native Antonín Kaplan donated thirty gold coins from his father's inheritance toward the construction and his gift prompted the establishment of a fund. Money accumulated from collections, donations, proceeds from theatres and balls, from fines and from legacies. The parish chronicle recorded that Emperor Ferdinand the Benevolent donated five hundred gold coins. The money that was saved was lent to people for building homesteads and deposited in savings banks.

After the Austro-Prussian War, the fund had over three thousand gold coins, so in 1868 construction began and the cornerstone was laid. However, the money was not enough, even though much work was done free of charge. By 1870, only the foundations had been built and they then protruded from the ground until 1905. The residents thus heard ridicule for thirty-five years, that they had a church built upside down, with the basement on top.

In 1880, the newly established Society for the Construction of the Church in Dlouhá Třebová took over responsibility for the project. Its first chairman was teacher František Velínský. A major donor was also native Josef Kaplan, who had moved to the United States. In 1901 the society selected the plans of architect František Brázda from Zábřeh in Moravia in a competition, partly because he prepared them free of charge. In 1903 the society had sixty-three thousand crowns and sixty thousand of them went toward construction. In the spring of 1905, construction began, the rough structure was complete that same year, and a year later the building was finished.

The church was consecrated on December eighth, 1906 by Lanškroun dean František Michalitschek. The final inspection took place in 1907 and complete acceptance after purchasing the furnishings in 1910.

The church is single-naved and oriented with an octagonal tower above the entrance. The church is entered through three oak doors, similar to those of a basilica. Above the main entrance is a skylight, on the first floor eight Gothic windows and the main front window has coloured glass panels.