Kostel Sv. Kateriny Alexandrijské / Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria - Chrudim (East Bohemia) - Medieval Churches on Waymarking.com

Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria (Kostel Sv. Kateriny Alexandrijské) in Chrudim, a Gothic-Renaissance church founded in 2nd half of the 14th century and completed in stages in 1516-1550, is an important part of the regional development of 16th century architectucture.

Suburban Church of St. Catherine, situated southeast of the fortified inner city, originally served as a hospital church and was adjacent to a small cemetery. Its origins date back to the second half of the 14th century. According to František Schmoranz, in the first quarter of the 15th century, the church of St. Catherine's was only a small cemetery chapel (now presbytery), possibly with annex of a small aisle. The elevation of the church from a hospital to a parish (the first mention of the parish in 1461) probably initiated the reconstruction of the presbytery and the construction of a nave in the middle of the 15th century. Other building changes (late-Gothic and Renaissance) took place even after 1500, in roughly two phases: between 1516 and 1536, as evidenced by the inscription on the emporium, and subsequently from 1536 to 1550.

After the fire of the church in August 1850, architect František Schmoranz Sr. first had to ensure the preservation of the church, the destruction of which he personally watched. Jan Kopista roofed the building according to Schmoranz's project in the years 1850–1851. Due to the very limited budget, the architect was forced to proceed to the design of a simple gable roof (originally was church eqiupped by beautiful high double tent roofs). František Schmoranz Sr. began planned complete overhaul of the church in January 1859. He strengthened the foundations of the poorly laid masonry and strengthened the supporting pillars. He radically intervened in the interior of the three-nave, where he canceled the side wings of the grandstand and broke two new windows, thus fundamentally disrupting the intact historical whole.

St. Catherine is an oriented isolated church near the bridge over the river Chrudimka. It is a three-nave hall with a short pentagonally closed presbytery with a tower with a sacristy at the SE corner. The exterior is supported by one stepped supporting buttresses. Brick stone plastered church, hard plaster, architectural articles, plinth, supporting buttresses are sandstone. Church dimensions: beam length 31 m, presbytery length 8.5 m, nave length 22.5 m, presbytery width 4.5 m, nave 12.5 m.

The main western portal from 1536, set in a square frame, forms a pointed entrance with the intentions of late Gothic architecture with a reinforced outer rod. It is lined on the sides by a pair of early Renaissance columns with a high stylobat and a slender shaft, vertically fluted. On the sides of the main portal are two obliquely built supporting buttresses of the corner.

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