Convent of Dominican Sisters in Olomouc
Encyclopedia
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
for the Dominican Sisters until 1782, when it passed over to the Order of Ursulines. The Ursuline Order remained in the convent until 1951, when the convent was converted to secular use, and it has been since used by the Regional Museum in Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
.
The inconspicuous convent complex is enclosed by blocks of houses in the southern part of the historic city centre and the convent is one of the most important historic landmarks in Olomouc. The buildings of the convent are representative of various architectural styles and in the centre of the convent is one of the oldest and most extraordinary gothic buildings in Olomouc – the convent Church of St. Catherine
St. Catherine
-People:*Saint Catherine of Alexandria , also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine*Saint Caterina Volpicelli *Saint Catherine of Bologna *Saint Catherine of Genoa...
. In other parts of the convent buildings were preserved structures from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
which were built over due to convent reconstruction in the Baroque style
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. The convent was markedly structurally modified for the last time in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
The history of the two orders of nuns who inhabited the convent was influenced by many important personalities from both sacred and secular circles. The beginnings of the convent are connected with the patronage of Wenceslas II
Venceslaus II of Bohemia
Wenceslaus II Premyslid was King of Bohemia , Duke of Cracow and King of Poland .He was the only son of King Ottokar II of Bohemia "the Great" and Ottokar's second wife Kunigunda. He was born in 1271, ten years after the marriage of his parents...
, members of the royal family and noble families, and the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
and Bishop of Olomouc.
The architectural, artistic, and historical aspects of the convent buildings have been assessed by a number of researchers, but a scientific assessment of the convent complex has not yet been performed. There are not many research findings about its architectural history, but on the basis of the combination of pictorial and written sources, and materials from the preserved structure, it is possible to reconstruct the architectural development of the convent.
The Convent of Dominican Sisters in Olomouc was established in the Polish province and belongs to the oldest convents of Dominican Sisters in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. It was constructed for the Dominican Sisters in the second half of the 13th century. First reports of its existence are from the year 1287, when Vojslava of Deblín gave the patronage rights of the church in Vážany to the convent. The convent was constructed in an undeveloped area at foot of the Michalský Hill at the southern tip of the city, between the city wall and blocks of houses near the marketplace on the present-day Lower Square.
It is supposed that the buildings of the convent increased gradually according to the needs of the convent and its finances. During the first decades of existence of the convent, the Dominican Sisters enjoyed a good economic situation. The high point of the convent's history was in the 14th century. Although the majority of the convents of Dominican Sisters disappeared after the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...
, the Dominican Sisters in Olomouc survived without further calamities until the disbandment of the convent in 1782 by the reforms of Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
. It was claimed at the time that the convent, among others, was disbanded because the nuns failed to care for the sick and promote education. During this period, the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
buildings of the convent were constructed.
In the course of time the convent was damaged by several great fires, damage caused by events of the Thirty Years War and the fire in 1709. The convent was again reconstructed in the middle of the 18th century. After the convent was disbanded, the buildings were made available for the use the Order of Ursulines. The Ursuline Order structurally reconstructed the convent and added some buildings, particularly for a school and new accommodations. The structural transformations of the convent complex were finished before the middle of the 19th century by the church interior alterations. In 1905 a new school building was constructed in the south part of the old convent complex. The occupancy of the Order of Ursulines ended in 1951 and the convent complex is currently used for secular purposes.
At present, the convent buildings form a complex of structures around four courts with a garden at the western wall. It is not a unified scheme of buildings and courts. As the convent's composition was developed by the build-up and spread of the buildings, it developed asymmetrically. The most well-preserved building is the convent church, in which the Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
was preserved with many original details, especially the portals and vaults of the long presbytery. It has preserved the original segmentation of the interior by the window cornice, truncated support column with capitals, and windows with tracery. On the convent buildings remain well-preserved fragments of their artistic and handicraft decoration. Surveys have discovered previously unknown architectural details of the oldest structure.
From the older interior decorating of the convent, only fragments of the church interior, several Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
sculptures and pictures of saints, Neo-Gothic furniture, and altar architecture have been preserved.
The convent complex is currently mostly unused while it awaits reconstruction and preservation.