Strahov Monastery Prague

In 1140, the Strahov Monastery was founded by the prince and then still the future King Vladislav II., And Jindřich Zdík, the bishop of Olomouc, was responsible for its establishment. It was King Vladislav II. he is also buried in the Strahov Monastery. The Premonstratensian Order of Steinfeld was invited here in 1143.

In 1258, the whole complex was destroyed by fire, after which the monastery had to be reconstructed, while it underwent further reconstruction later. At present, the monastery has a Baroque appearance, imprinted on it by the architect Anselmo Lurago.

The Strahov monastery fulfilled its function until 1950. The then regime arranged for the transport of monks from the monastery to concentration camps that year. At present, however, the monastery is functioning again and has a total of 74 monks, some of whom operate throughout the Czech Republic, others work directly in the monastery.

An important space in the monastery space is the chapter hall, which was restored to its original form in 1990, and in which the reception ceremony of new members of the order takes place. The hall also houses rare paintings and other works of art of significant value. In addition, the Strahov Monastery also boasts a picture gallery with valuable paintings from Gothic to Romanticism, and these collections are among the most important in Bohemia.

The monastery library, which is one of the best-preserved and most valuable in the Czech Republic, houses more than 200,000 books. Of these, 3,000 are manuscripts and 1,500 are first editions deposited in a special depository.

Within the walls of the Strahov Monastery there is also a valuable unique in the form of a beautiful organ, on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also played a few times. Also interesting is the fact that St. Norbert, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, and the monastery pool, built in the 12th century, is also unique.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová