Vyssi Brod Monastery

Vyssi Brod was founded in 1259 by Vok of Rozmberk and the Cistercians have been there, with interruptions, ever since - the community returned in 1990 after forty years of suppression, during which the buildings were used by the border guard, the site sitting in the frontier zone against Austria. The abbey church is early Gothic with a Rosenberg burial chapel holding the tombs of the family that founded and endowed it. The library survived: about seventy thousand volumes in three connected halls, philosophical, theological and a smaller one, with painted ceilings and original shelving, and it is one of the best-preserved monastic libraries in the country. There is a picture gallery with medieval panels, including work of the Vyssi Brod Master, and a postal museum in the outbuildings. The Vltava runs past and the canoe route from Lipno comes through the town.

What you actually see

• Three library halls - about seventy thousand volumes with painted ceilings.
• The Rosenberg burial chapel - tombs of the family that founded the abbey.
• An early Gothic church - the thirteenth-century core, still in use.
• Medieval panel paintings - including work of the Vyssi Brod Master.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a working monastery: guided tours at set times, quiet expected, and areas closed. The library is viewed from the doorway. Seasonal opening with a short winter season. Book in summer.

Nearby

Rozmberk castle is downstream; Lipno reservoir is west.