The Jesuit College / Jezuitská kolej (Kutná Hora, Czech Republic)
N 49° 56.773 E 015° 15.853
33U E 518956 N 5532684
Next to the Gothic pearl of Kutná Hora - St. Barbara Cathedral is located another part of town's architectonic heritage: monumental Baroque complex of Jesuit College from famous Domenico Orsi...
Waymark Code: WM6K77
Location: Středočeský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/13/2009
Views: 147
The monumental Jesuit College (In Czech: Jezuitská kolej) was build according to plans by the famous Baroque architect Domenico Orsi just next to St. Barbara’s Cathedral between 1667-1703. Orsi designed an F-shaped ground plan to remind of Habsburg kings Ferdinand II and Ferdinand III.
The appearance is quite austere, complying to Jesuit principles, only the front façade resembles Italian palaces of the early Baroque period. The middle one of the original three towers had to be removed for static reasons in the mid-19th century. The artificial terrace in front of the College was enclosed by a low wall with 13 sculptures of saints favoured by the Jesuits, including St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Franz Xaverius, St. Wenceslas and others. It was designed as a free resemblance of the Charles Bridge in Prague, which linked the seat of the Jesuit order in Prague, Klementinum, with its temple – St. Vitus’s Cathedral in Prague Castle. The statues were created by the Jesuit František Baugut, author of the Plague Column, during the years 1703–1716.