Sazava Monastery
The only Bohemian monastery that used the Slavonic liturgy, founded by a hermit who is said to have tamed a devil.
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Sazava was founded around 1032 by Prokop, a hermit living in a cave above the river, and for its first sixty years it was something no other Bohemian house was: a Benedictine monastery using Old Church Slavonic rather than Latin in the liturgy, continuing the tradition brought by Cyril and Methodius and maintaining links with Kyivan Rus. The Slavonic monks were expelled in 1096 and the house went over to Latin. What survives is a mix: excavated foundations of the Romanesque church, a fourteenth-century Gothic chapter house with wall paintings including a rare depiction of the Virgin in a Byzantine manner, an unfinished Gothic church whose pillars stand roofless in the open, and a baroque range. Prokop is a Czech patron saint, and the legend of him harnessing a devil to plough a furrow is a fixture in Czech folklore. The Sazava valley below is walked and paddled.
What you actually see
- A Slavonic-rite foundation - the only one in Bohemia, from about 1032 to 1096.
- Gothic wall paintings - in the chapter house, including a Byzantine-manner Virgin.
- An unfinished church - pillars standing roofless in the open.
- Prokop's legend - the hermit who is said to have ploughed with a harnessed devil.
When to go
April to October. Half a day.
Honest expectations
Guided tours only, seasonal, with a short winter season. Much of the medieval fabric is fragmentary. The paintings are dim and photography is restricted. The town has limited services.
Nearby
Cesky Sternberk is upstream; Konopiste is west.
What to pack for Sazava Monastery
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.