9 WEEKS OF BAROQUE FESTIVAL

BAROQUE CELEBRATION / JESUIT COLLEGE OF KLATOVY
10 July / Friday 8:00pm – 11:00pm
A programme in Jesuit catacombs, the college and the church. Baroque music, theatre, flavours, fragrances, fireworks, vespers. The main music programme of the evening has been prepared by the musical ensemble Ritornello.

The Baroque history of Klatovy is inseparably connected with the activities of the Jesuit order. The spectacular building of the college, the school and the church commemorates the presence of the order even today. Beneath the Jesuit church dedicated to the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and St Ignatius, there are catacombs which were built as part of the church structure and which hold more than two hundred dead bodies laid here for eternal sleep during the years 1676-1783. Bodies positioned on wood shavings placed in oak coffins were covered with hops and, thanks to the air being channelled through a sophisticated system of ventilation channels into individual crypts, they were gradually mummified. A crypt of Klatovy catacombs, where it is currently possible to see 30 mummified bodies, has been renovated and in a part of the vast underground area a new exposure has been established presenting the history of Klatovy in the Baroque period, as well as stories of the Jesuits and the Jesuit High School, which in its time was attended by the surprising number of 310 students.

PROGRAMME
Baroque Celebration / De profundis ad astra or Dance of Life and Death
8:00pm – 11:00pm
The Baroque Celebration taking place in the Jesuit College of Klatovy and mysterious catacombs has received a poetic name De profundis ad astra, meaning “From the depths to the stars”. And visitors will be able to actually make their way from the depths to the stars! Firstly, we will introduce the depths of the church underground, where members of the Jesuit order have already been resting for centuries. Afterwards, angel guides will bring us out and lead us to the Jesuit Colleges in order to discover together the beauty of the heaven courtyard, where a theatrical performance of the Guardian Angel will take place, accompanied by historic songs about life and death, and completed by a feast of the Jesuits. After the feast, which will culminate in Baroque fireworks, we will reach the stars. The evening full of contemplations about the transience of earthly life will be complemented by Baroque vespers presented by the group Ritornello, led by Michael Pospíšil. The theatre programme will be provided by the cultural association Rašelina – students of Klatovy schools under the direction of Tomáš Javorský. The icing on the Baroque cake of Klatovy will be the fireworks from the workshop of the masters of Baroque entertainment, Theatrum Pyrotechnicum from Český Krumlov, accompanied for the first time by authentic live music.

Admission: CZK 300 | CZK 150
ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE
Capacity: 300 places
Programme partner: Catacombs of Klatovy, o.s., http://www.katakomby.cz

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