Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary / Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie - Bechyne (South Bohemia) - Medieval Churches on Waymarking.com

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie), a core part of the Minorite convent in Bechyne built in 1491, is valuable example of late-Gothic South Bohemian architecture.

The building of the church is divided in ground plan into two parts: first part is the main two-nave structure, the second one is a single-nave presbytery - connected asymmetrically directly to the left nave. The main entrance to the church is situated in the direction from the Old town of Bechyne (from the west), the area of the presbytery (also the chancel or choir) is located, as usual with Christian churches, on the east side. In addition to the main entrance, the church can be entered from the cloister (this entrance is located on the left side of the presbytery, or through the added Baroque chapel. The elongated presbytery is vaulted by a Milevsko-type Gothic vault and a main two-nave structure is vaulted with extremely impressive Saxon-type cellar vaults transformed into a form used in southern Bohemia (firstly used in this form here). In addition to the completely preserved constructions of vaults, portals and other elements from the late-Gothic period, the original late-Gothic truss has been preserved above the church premises. The church's furnishings with Baroque furniture, tombstones and a torso of Gothic murals in the attic are also extremely valuable.

The whole complex of two-nave and presbytery is about 42 m long and this makes the church one of the dominants of the town of Bechyne, especially when viewed from the southeast, when you can see the whole complex located on a rock above the river Lužnice.

Source: excerpted and translated from Wikipedia and National Heritage Institute portal.