Kladruby Monastery

The Benedictine abbey at Kladruby was founded in 1115 and its church rebuilt between 1712 and 1726 by Jan Blazej Santini-Aichel in the manner he invented and which has no real parallel elsewhere: baroque Gothic, in which Gothic structural forms - pointed arches, ribbed vaults, tracery - are used with baroque proportion and light, producing something that reads as neither and both. At Kladruby he kept the Romanesque plan and raised over it a dome and vaults of enormous height, with a crown motif in the lantern, so the interior soars in a way baroque churches usually do not. The convent buildings beside were designed by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. After dissolution in 1785 the complex passed to the Windischgraetz family and declined; restoration has been running for decades. There is a summer music festival in the church.

What you actually see

• Baroque Gothic - Santini's own idiom, pointed forms with baroque light.
• A vaulted crown - the dome and lantern raised over the Romanesque plan.
• Dientzenhofer's convent - the monastic buildings beside the church.
• A restoration in progress - work continuing after two centuries of decline.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, seasonal, and restoration means some areas are closed or scaffolded. The village is small with limited services. The church is cold. Concert dates change the opening.

Nearby

Stribro is five kilometres away; Plasy monastery is north-east.