Kaple svaté Rodiny / Chapel of the Holy Family - Benátky nad Jizerou (Central Bohemia)
N 50° 17.504 E 014° 49.545
33U E 487587 N 5571081
Chapel of the Holy Family (Kaple svaté Rodiny), a late-Baroque sacral building from 1737, currently serves as a prayer house and parish office of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in Benátky nad Jizerou.
Waymark Code: WM12B6C
Location: Středočeský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/18/2020
Views: 13
Chapel of the Holy Family (Kaple svaté Rodiny), a late-Baroque sacral building from 1737, currently serves as a prayer house and parish office of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in Benátky nad Jizerou.
The late-Baroque chapel was built by Ignác Zikmund count of Klenová and Janovice not long after his accession (1720) to the Benátky demesne in 1737. The reason for the construction is not exactly known. At that time, two churches were located in Nové Benátky in the vicinity of the square (the early-Gothic Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the late-Gothic-Renaissance parish church of St. Mary Magdalene). Some scholars believe that the Chapel of the Holy family was originally designed as a Loreto chapel. The chapel served its purpose until 1783, when it was under the reforms of Joseph II. abolished. The building subsequently fell into disrepair until 1794, when Benátky burgher Ludvík Ferdinand Cerný bought it for 47 guldens and donated it to the town to establish a new town hall, which was subsequently reconstructed and adapted for office use. Town Hall in adapted chapel have served the town for nearly 100 years. Its function ceased to exist in 1897, when Benátky built a new town hall. After relocating the town hall, the chapel served various purposes, but without any maintenance.
The former chapel was eventually entrusted to the use of the Benátky nad Jizerou religious community of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, following the decision of the Benátky nad Jizerou town counsil in 1981. Extensive reconstruction work on the interior with the cooperation of the Church and the city began in January 1981. This was the first interior reconstruction since 1798. Complete installations, repairs of plaster and floors, replacement of stairs and entrance doors and repair of windows were carried out. The ceremonial opening of the chapel by worship with the participation of the Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church Dr. Miroslav Novák took place on January 31, 1982.
Source: excerpted and translated from
Wikipedia
and National Heritage Institute portal.