Jesuitská kolej / Jesuit College - Znojmo (South Moravia)
N 48° 51.473 E 016° 02.870
33U E 576858 N 5412186
The late-Renaissance building of the former Jesuit College, nowadays seat of the State Archive, you can find in Jesuit Square (Jezuitské námestí) in historic centre of town Znojmo.
Waymark Code: WME45X
Location: Jihomoravský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/01/2012
Views: 63
The late-Renaissance building of the former Jesuit College, nowadays seat of the State Archive, you can find in Jesuit Square (Jezuitské námestí) in historic centre of town Znojmo.
The construction of Jesuit College in Znojmo is closely connected with Recatolization process in Czech lands after Protestant's loss in the Battle of White Mountain (1620). Former center of Protestantism in South Moravia, Znojmo, was under hard pressure of Catholic winners of the war. The new Catholic owner of the Vranov nad Dyjí and Jaroslavice domains Michal Adolf Count von Althan, following the instructions of Emperor Leopold I, invited the Jesuits to Znojmo and founded a college near St. Michael’s Church in May 1624.
The seat of the Jesuit College, a beautiful Late Renaissance building, now belongs to the State Archives. A special seminar was held for poor students, too. In 1679, when Vienna was suffering from plague, Emperor Leopold I moved to the Znojmo College for a few days to take shelter from the deadly disease. Among Jesuit students was Prokopius Divisch who in the first half of the 18th century invented the first lightning conductor in Europe.