Sunday, February 20, 2011

Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk

The Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora (Gruneberg) in Žďár nad Sázavou, near the border between Bohemia and Moravia, is the final masterpiece of Jan Santini Aichel, a maverick Bohemian architect who combined the Borrominiesque Baroque with references to Gothic elements in both construction and decoration.
Vaulted pentagonal ceiling in the cloister
The church, with many furnishings designed by Santini himself, is remarkable for its gothicizing features and complex symbolism, quite unusual for the time. In 1993, it was declared a World Heritage Site. The nomination dossier pointed out to Santini's ratios aimed at "the creation of an independent spatial reality", with "the number 5 being dominant in the layout and proportions" of the church.





Isole Borromee