9 WEEKS OF BAROQUE FESTIVAL

Week 3 | Region of Chotěšov / Dobřany / Přeštice (13.7. - 19.7. 2015)

13.7. 2015 Cross Hill Stod
14.7. 2015 Rochlov Castle
14.7. 2015 Vejprnice Church
15.7. 2015 City and Church Dobřany
16.7. 2015 Church in Vícov at Přeštice 
17.7. 2015 Chotěšov Monastery
18.7. 2015 Baroque Countyard Gigant
19.7. 2015 Baroque Church Přeštice  

The landscape that spreads to the south and southwest of Pilsen is not dramatic. It was formed by rivers rushing towards Pilsen to merge here into a single flow of the Berounka River. During the time when Czech art was dominated by Baroque, this territory belonged mostly to two large monasteries – Benedictine Kladruby and Premonstrate Chotěšov. Both monasteries went through generous Baroque reconstructions with the participation of excellent artists at their service who influenced the artistic face of this region. 

The Monastery in Chotěšov was rebuilt according to the project of the Pilsen architect Jakub Auguston. Although the Monastery lost its church in the 19th century, the convent building with halls and a monumental staircase decorated with original paintings by František Julius Lux, another artist from Pilsen, is a beautiful location suitable for exhibitions and concerts, which are often also held in the park area of the monastery. Not far from Chotěšov, a monastery courtyard Giant has been preserved. As its name suggests, it is an enormous Baroque structure with a well-established, rich cultural life.
Jakub Auguston is also the author of the recently restored Church of St Vitus in Dobřany with its elliptical space dominated by an unusual double-altar by the sculptor Matěj Václav Jäckel. A landmark of the southern part of the region is the monumental church in Přeštice, which was built by the Benedictines of Kladruby based on a design by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer. Its construction spanned most of the 18th century, and thus its completion was participated in by a number of famous Prague architects, such as Anselmo Lurago and Tomáš Haffenecker.