Church of St. Kunhuty in Nové Město na Moravě

The church is also the oldest architectural monument of the city, its earliest part, the Gothic presbytery, was built in the 14th century. In the next century, a nave was added to it and in 1499 a bell tower. But it was rebuilt into a tower less than a hundred years later. In 1723, a large fire hit the town and the church in front of it was not spared. However, everything was soon repaired, and in addition to these repairs, a southern sacristy was added to the church, a room for preparing priests for the ceremony and also for storing priestly robes and other objects used in worship. The sacristy used to be on the north side, but at the same time it was rebuilt into the so-called Black Chapel. During its reconstruction, old frescoes depicting the path of the human soul were unveiled during the reconstruction in the 1990s.

There was a cemetery around the church for several centuries, but it was abolished and moved in 1801. Under the church there is a crypt where some members of the Dubský family from Třebomyslice and Kratzer were buried.

The decoration of the church facade was created by a native of Nové Město, academic painter Karel Němec, in the years 1928-1929. The sgraffito covers almost the entire area of ​​the facade (520 m2) and depicts biblical figures, stories from their lives and also the fate of St. Wenceslas, as the millennial anniversary of his death was being celebrated. A year later, Karel Němec also decorated the interior, and the sgraffito Czech Sky on the triumphal arch is definitely worth mentioning.

The church carries a total of five bells, but only one of them is of an older date. It dates from the early 19th century and is nicknamed St. Vavřinec. The original bells have not been preserved, they could not withstand various disasters and wars that also affected the church. The others that serve here today were cast in the 1960s and also bear the names of saints - Peter, Paul, Wenceslas and Kunhuta. Kunhuta is the largest of the bells, weighing 2,200 kg.

To the patron saint of the church of St. Kunhute was added in the 18th century by the co-patroness of St. Anna, whom people thanked for saving the city from the plague epidemic. The fact that its woodcarving was miraculously preserved during the fire also contributed to this.

Author: Martina Limbergová