Zlatá Koruna

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Klášter Zlatá Koruna, 382 02 Zlatá Koruna
Tel. +420 380 743 126


   The Cistercian monastery was founded by King Přemysl Otakar II in 1263. The king endowed the community with rich and extensive estates, all the better to compensate for the growing economic and political power of the Rožmberk clan residing in Český Krumlov. The inevitable decline of the monastery after the Hussite wars was not arrested until the 1660s or 1670s. The monastery was then raised anew by the builders, Petr and Jan Spineti. Under the last Abbot Bohumír Bylanský the interior was refashioned in Rococo style but in 1785, just when it was reviving economically, it was turned into a factory.


   The convent church, which has three aisles, a transept and polygonal east end, was constructed between the end of the 13th century and the 1370s. Michal Parler had a hand in the final phase and the large rose window is thought to be his work. The side aisles have Gothic cross vaulting while the nave and sanctuary are vaulted in the Baroque style of the 1670s. The high altar, dating from 1772, has a sculpture by Jakub Eberl, who is also responsible for the cenotaphs of the monastery's patrons Přemysl Otakar II and Bavor III of Strakonice. These areas now house an extensive exhibition devoted to South Bohemian literature.