Marianska Tynice

Marianska Tynice was built from 1711 by Jan Blazej Santini-Aichel as a pilgrimage church for the Plasy Cistercians, on a Greek-cross plan with a dome, in his baroque Gothic manner. The interior was completed and consecrated only in 1777, the church was closed under the reforms of Joseph II in 1785, and the building then decayed until 1920, when the dome and some vaults caved in, after which it stood open to the sky. The church was repaired without its dome and a museum opened in it in 1952, and in 2005 the dome was rebuilt, so the church now stands complete, holding the Museum and Gallery of the Northern Plzen Region. It is one of the more thorough recoveries of a ruined baroque building in the country. Santini's geometry, based on interlocking figures and numerical schemes, is the reason specialists come; there is an exhibition on it inside.

History

In the 12th century the village of Mariánský Týnec belonged to a man called Roman, who, ill and childless, promised to build a chapel to the Virgin Mary if he recovered; he kept the promise and around 1180 (or 1230) left his property to the Cistercian monastery of Plasy. The monks built a court around the chapel, Pope Urban III granted an indulgence to pilgrims in 1186, confirmed by Innocent IV in 1250, and it became the oldest pilgrimage site in western Bohemia. The Plasy region was plundered in the Hussite Wars, the property was sold to Florian Griespek von Griespach in the 16th century, and in 1613 King Matthias returned the site to the Cistercians. Abbot Jakob Berger Vrchota, recovering from illness in 1638, built a larger church, and another new one followed in 1681 under Abbot Ondřej Trojer, who set up the provost office in 1699. In 1711 Abbot Eugen Tittl laid the cornerstone of a completely new church to the design of Jan Santini Aichel, with its axis turned towards Plasy; the work was interrupted in the wars under Maria Theresa, the provost office was completed in 1764, and the interior was finished and consecrated only in 1777. Joseph II's reforms closed the church in 1785, the last Mass was said on 7 August 1786, Prince Metternich bought Týnec in 1826, and in 1920 the dome and some vaults caved in. A volunteer society formed in Plzeň in 1919 to save the ruin, the church was repaired without its dome and a museum opened in it in 1952, and the dome was rebuilt in 2005 (Wikipedia, Mariánská Týnice).

What to look for

• A Greek-cross Santini church - baroque Gothic on a symmetrical plan.
• A rebuilt dome - fallen in 1920, built again in 2005.
• The district museum - regional collections in the completed wings.
• Santini's geometry - the numerical and figural schemes, explained on site.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Good to know

Much of the fabric is twentieth-century reconstruction rather than original. Closed Mondays and reduced in winter. It is a museum first; the church is not in liturgical use. Public transport is limited.

Nearby

Plasy monastery is south; Kralovice is nearby.

Key facts