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Olomouc
KNOWLEDGE OF Olomouc
Olomouc (German Olmütz, Polish Ołomuniec, Latin Eburum or Olomucium) 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 of Moravia.
Olomouc contains several large squares, the chief of which is adorned with Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The column is 115 ft. high and was built in 1716–1754.
The most prominent church is the St. Wenceslas cathedral. In the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, but it kept many parts from the original church, which had also been rebuilt many times (Romanesque crypt, Gothic cloister, Baroque chapels). The highest of its three spires is 328 ft. The church neighbours with the Bishop's Palace (often incorrectly called the Přemyslid Palace), a 12th century Romanesque building. The real Přemyslid Palace, i.e. the residence of Olomouc members of the governing Přemyslid Dynasty, used to stand nearby.
The St. Maurice church, a fine Gothic building of the 15th century, and the St. Michael church are also worth mentioning. Neo-Baroque chapel of St. John Sarkander stands on the place of a former town prison. Catholic priest John Sarkander was imprisoned here in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was accused of collaboration with the enemy and tortured here, but did not reveal anything because of the Seal of Confession, and died. The torturing rack and Sarkander’s gravestone are preserved here. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II during his visit in Olomouc in 1995.
Another place that John Paul II visited here was Svatý KopeÄ?ek, a part of Olomouc lying on a hill, with the magnificent Baroque church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary looking down at the city. The Pope promoted the church to Minor Basilica.
The principal secular building is the town hall, completed in the 15th century, flanked on one side by a Gothic chapel, transformed now into a museum. It possesses a tower 250 ft. high adorned with an astronomical clock.
The old university founded in 1573 and suppressed in 1860, was reopened in 1946 and called Palacký University.
Olomouc is also proud of its six Baroque fountains. The fountains survived in such a number thanks to cautious policy of the city council. While most European cities were removing old fountains after they had built their water supply piping, Olomouc decided to keep them as water reservoirs in case of fire. For their decoration ancient Roman motifs were used. Five of them depict Roman gods Jupiter, Mercury, Triton, Neptune and Hercules, and one depicts Julius Caesar, the legendary founder of the city.
Olomouc is said to occupy a site of a Roman fort founded in the imperial period, the original name of which, Mons Julii, would have been gradually corrupted to the present form. Though this is just a legend, archaeological excavations revealed remains of a Roman military camp from the time of Marcoman Wars here.
Olomouc was an important centre of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th and early 10th century. At a later period it was long the capital of the province of Moravia. The bishopric of Olomouc was founded in 1063, and raised to the rank of an archbishopric in 1777.
Olomouc contains several large squares, the chief of which is adorned with Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The column is 115 ft. high and was built in 1716–1754.
The most prominent church is the St. Wenceslas cathedral. In the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, but it kept many parts from the original church, which had also been rebuilt many times (Romanesque crypt, Gothic cloister, Baroque chapels). The highest of its three spires is 328 ft. The church neighbours with the Bishop's Palace (often incorrectly called the Přemyslid Palace), a 12th century Romanesque building. The real Přemyslid Palace, i.e. the residence of Olomouc members of the governing Přemyslid Dynasty, used to stand nearby.
The St. Maurice church, a fine Gothic building of the 15th century, and the St. Michael church are also worth mentioning. Neo-Baroque chapel of St. John Sarkander stands on the place of a former town prison. Catholic priest John Sarkander was imprisoned here in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was accused of collaboration with the enemy and tortured here, but did not reveal anything because of the Seal of Confession, and died. The torturing rack and Sarkander’s gravestone are preserved here. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II during his visit in Olomouc in 1995.
Another place that John Paul II visited here was Svatý KopeÄ?ek, a part of Olomouc lying on a hill, with the magnificent Baroque church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary looking down at the city. The Pope promoted the church to Minor Basilica.
The principal secular building is the town hall, completed in the 15th century, flanked on one side by a Gothic chapel, transformed now into a museum. It possesses a tower 250 ft. high adorned with an astronomical clock.
The old university founded in 1573 and suppressed in 1860, was reopened in 1946 and called Palacký University.
Olomouc is also proud of its six Baroque fountains. The fountains survived in such a number thanks to cautious policy of the city council. While most European cities were removing old fountains after they had built their water supply piping, Olomouc decided to keep them as water reservoirs in case of fire. For their decoration ancient Roman motifs were used. Five of them depict Roman gods Jupiter, Mercury, Triton, Neptune and Hercules, and one depicts Julius Caesar, the legendary founder of the city.
Olomouc is said to occupy a site of a Roman fort founded in the imperial period, the original name of which, Mons Julii, would have been gradually corrupted to the present form. Though this is just a legend, archaeological excavations revealed remains of a Roman military camp from the time of Marcoman Wars here.
Olomouc was an important centre of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th and early 10th century. At a later period it was long the capital of the province of Moravia. The bishopric of Olomouc was founded in 1063, and raised to the rank of an archbishopric in 1777.
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