Churches of Brno

The majority of church buildings in Brno belong to the Roman Catholic Church, others mainly to Protestant Churches. In addition, there are also a synagogue and a mosque. To describe the more remarkable ones, we can divide Brno into three areas: city centre (inside the former walls), earlier suburbs (from the 1850s to after World War I) and former villages and large housing estates (incorporated after World War I, including post-World War II developments).

Contents

City Centre

Catholic

– on Petrov Hill; a Gothic church rebuilt in the Baroque style during the 18th century, later partially reconstructed in the Neo-Gothic style, two characteristic towers (81 m high) since 1905; cathedral since 1777

– in Dominican Square (Dominikánské náměstí); a Baroque church from the 17th century, until the 1780s a church of the Dominican Order; later (1905 to 1950) used by the Redemptorists; part of former monastery buildings serves as the New City Hall (Nová radnice) of Brno

– church of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, a Baroque building from the 17th century; the Crypt under the church is a unique air-circulation system providing natural mummification of buried bodies

– a Baroque church from 1650s, built for the Franciscans on the spot of an older one that originated from a synagogue closed after expulsion of the Jews in the 15th century; the Franciscans resided here until 1780s; later the church (and adjacent monastery) belonged to the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (1912-1950) and since 1991 it has been administered by the Congregatio Fratrum Sanctissimi Sacramenti

– former Ursuline church, nowadays closed

– Church of St. John the Baptist and John the Apostle, since the Middle Ages a part of the Minorite monastery; originally Gothic church reconstructed in the Baroque style during 1720s-1730s; in that time the Loreto Chapel with Holy Stairs was built next to the church

– a Baroque church of the Jesuits, the only remain of a Jesuit College from the 16th/17th centuries, interior partly from the 18th century

– originally the parish church of the non-Slavonic inhabitants of Brno, built from 14th to 16th centuries predominantly in the Gothic style; the spire (from 1592) is 92m high (the 7th highest building in the Czech Republic and the tallest in Brno). It is often mistakenly called St Jacob's.

– a Baroque church with a monumental facade from 1665–1675 on the spot of the Gothic one damaged in the Thirty Years' War; since 1350 a part of an Augustinian monastery, planned as a burial place of Moravian rulers (Margrave Jobst is buried there); in 1780s the Augustinians moved to Staré Brno

Protestant and Orthodox

– built in the 19th century for Czech-speaking Protestants

– built in 1860s in Neo-Gothic style for especially German-speaking Protestants (till the expulsion of Germans after World War II)

– built in 1930–1931 at the foot of Špilberk Hill

Photogallery

Former Suburbs

Catholic

– originally a Cistercian Convent, from the 1780s a monastery of Augustinians transferred from St. Thomas Church in the city centre; famous for its association with Gregor Mendel, who served as its abbot from 1868 to 1884

– a Baroque church of the Brothers Hospitallers with a hospital in the Vienna (Vídeňská) Street

– finished in 1935

– situated in Žabovřesky, Help of Christians from 1990s

– situated in Královo Pole, built in 1370s as a part of Carthusian monastery (founded 1375, abolished 1782), later reconstructed in Baroque style

– situated in Zábrdovice, a Baroque church from the 1660s (interior from the 18th century), a part of the former Premonstratensian monastery abolished in 1780s with St. Cunigunde Church (dedicated 1211); as of 2010 it serves as a hospital

– situated in Husovice, with Art Nouveau elements, finished 1910; since 1990s administered by the Franciscans

– situated in Židenice, finished 1935

– situated in Trnitá, built in 1910s in Art Nouveau style to replace the demolished St. Stephen Church

– situated in Komárov, started in the beginning of the 12th century (the oldest church in Brno), later rebuilt

Protestant

– a functionalistic building from 1928-1929

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Non-Christian places of worship

– the only remaining one of Brno synagogues, a functionalistic building from 1930s

– in the Vienna (Vídeňská) Street; the first mosque in the Czech Republic (opened 1998), with no minaret

Photogallery

Joined villages and large housing estates

Photogallery

References