Franciscan convent / Františkánský klášter - Votice (Central Bohemia) - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

One of Votice historic landmarks, Baroque complex of the Franciscan convent (Františkánský klášter) with convent church of the St. Francis of Assisi (kostel sv. Františka z Assisi) is after 102 years practically identicial...

After the defeat of the Protestant Estates Uprising in 1621, the Votice estate was confiscated to its Protestant owner Kašpar Kaplír of Sulevice and became the property of the Catholic nobleman Sezima of Vrtba. The new owner invited Franciscans to Votice in 1627 to support the recatholicization efforts. The convent was founded shortly after this date near the Votice chateau. The first Franciscans moved into the unfinished convent in 1630. Convent Church of St. Francis of Assisi was consecrated in 1631. Another construction activity is recorded in 1700, when the chapel of the Virgin Mary was added to the north wall of the church. A major late Baroque reconstruction of the convent buildings took place in the years 1766-1771 and they have been preserved in this form to this day. The renovation also affected the convent church to a small extent, which has retained its late Renaissance disposition and mass. Cassula windows date from after 1766. Further alterations to the area are documented only in recent times, but did not affect the appearance. After the forced departure of monks in 1950, the complex was used by Tesla Votice. The convent was returned to the Franciscans in 1997, and in 2012 it became the property of the town of Votice. The whole area was reconstructed, the church is now under the administration of the local Roman Catholic parish, the convent has become a new cultural center of the town of Votice. You can find here e.g. the Votice Regional Museum with several permanent expositions and the Gallery of St. Francis.

Short architectonic description: Adjacent to the oriented St. Francis church on the south side is a two-storey three-wing convent building forming a square floor plan with the church. On the north side, the area is surrounded by a fence wall. In front of the main (western) facade of the church is a staircase, at the upper end of which are two sculptural pedestals with painted-sheet figures of St. John of Nepomuk and St. Anthony of Padua.

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