CHURCH OF ST. MAURICE

This municipal parish church is one of the most important monuments of late Gothic architecture in Moravia. It was built between 1412 and 1540 on the site of an earlier Romanesque building from the 12th century, which was the sanctuary of an old settlement of Slavic merchants and craftsmen before the founding of the medieval city.

The architectural layout of the church is dominated by the western façade with two asymmetrical towers that not only have different proportions, but are also topped differently – the older south tower has a loft while the north tower is crowned with an octagonal extension.

The cylindrical turret is also a significant element here as well as a later attachment to the south tower. Its unique design conceals a pair of spiral stairs that run in parallel above each other.

The facade of the church ties into a nearly square triple nave hall with simple cross vaults, closed by a presbytery with a three-part closing to the east.

The church’s roof comes from 1443. Some modifications to the western part of the hall were carried out at the beginning of the 16th century, when an organ loft with a single rib vault was added to the older bearing construction. Structural defects were caused either by additional changes in the load carried by the pillars, or possibly by wall tremors from the strong surges of the church bells, so before 1540 the vaults had to be reconstructed once again, as did one of the tracery windows adjacent to the southern bell tower. Future modifications also included the addition of the Edelmann Renaissance tomb.

In 1745, the church received its unique and world-famous organ, made by Michael Engler from Wroclaw. The plastic and carving additions to the organ cabinet were done by Olomouc sculptors Filip Sattler and his pupil Jan Antonín Richter.

TIP: During a tour of the church, you can climb the spiral staircase to one of its towers and enjoy the spectacular views of the historic center of Olomouc (see photo).