Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady / Kostel Zvestování Panny Marie - Duchcov (North-West Bohemia) - Baroque Architecture on Waymarking.com

The Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady (Kostel Zvestování Panny Marie) in Duchcov, a Baroque chateau-church built in 1696-1721, is located in the historic town's center in the southwest corner of Námestí Republiky (Republic Square).

The church stands on the site of the previous Renaissance church from 1587, which, however, already stood on the site of an early Gothic St. George church or even older sacral building. Parts of the masonry of these previous churches were used for the core of the present church. On the south side of the presbytery are preserved the remains of the early Gothic church of St. George. Plans for the construction of the church were prepared for Arnošt Josef count of Valdštejn in 1696 by the architect Marc Antonio Canevalle, who was also the first builder and partially completed it by 1707. The construction was finished by architect František Maxmilián Kanka in 1721 and consecrated on September 12, 1722.

The church is a single-nave building with three vaulted fields with three shallow inter-pillar chapels on the sides. To the west is the vestibule, which is surrounded by two towers. To the east is a polygonally closed presbytery. The front towers are divided by cornices, which are connected by the pilaster order. The interior has a barrel vault with lunettes. On the south side there is the so-called Wallenstein Chapel, which has a square floor plan and is a vaulted by dome. The church has a shingle roof. The plaster of the church is slightly damaged. The sculptor Matyáš Bernard Braun (1684–1738) and the painter Václav Vavrinec Reiner (1689–1743) took part in the decoration of the church.

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