Church of Saint John the Baptist (Běstvina)

The Church of Saint John the Baptist in Běstvina is a Baroque church standing on a hill at the edge of the village of Běstvina, in the Chrudim District, right in the middle of the local cemetery. The building is the visual dominant of the village, visible from most of Běstvina and shaping the settlement's silhouette from the hill on which it stands.

How old is the church in Běstvina?

The site's history reaches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest written mention of a church in Běstvina dates from 1137 and appears in the chronicle of the Canon of Vyšehrad, one of the oldest surviving Czech historical sources. That means a place of worship has stood on this hill for almost 900 years, long before the church took on the Baroque appearance it has today.

How has the church changed over the centuries?

The original church in Běstvina was built in the Romanesque style, typical of the oldest village churches in Bohemia. In the 14th century the building was either substantially rebuilt or newly constructed in the Gothic style, resulting in a single-nave structure with a tower — a layout that has shaped the church's basic form ever since. This Gothic footprint, nave plus tower, survived the later Baroque remodeling of the facade and interior and can still be traced in the building today.

Who gave the church its present, Baroque appearance?

In 1726 the Gothic building was redesigned in the Baroque style according to plans by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl, one of the most notable architects working in Bohemia at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. That reconstruction is what gave the church the form visitors see today: a single-nave Baroque body with a tower, raised on the older Gothic foundations.

What is worth seeing inside the church?

The interior houses historic Baroque organs dating from 1735, built shortly after the church's Baroque reconstruction was completed. They are among the few furnishings in the church whose age and origin are clearly documented, and worth keeping in mind when planning a visit to the interior.

Why is the church in Běstvina worth a visit?

The Church of Saint John the Baptist shows how, in a small Bohemian village, several historical layers — Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque — can be stacked within a single building. Standing on a hill, in the middle of a cemetery, at the edge of the village, it has kept the quiet, secluded character of a place of worship that it already had in the Middle Ages, even as its architectural form kept changing across the centuries.

Frequently asked questions

When was the church in Běstvina first mentioned? In 1137, in the chronicle of the Canon of Vyšehrad — the oldest known record of the site.

In what style is the current church built? The church has the Baroque form it received in 1726, but its single-nave layout with a tower goes back to the Gothic rebuilding of the 14th century.

Who designed the Baroque reconstruction of the church? The 1726 reconstruction plans were prepared by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl.

What is notable inside the church? Baroque organs from 1735, dating from shortly after the church's reconstruction was finished.

Where exactly does the church stand in relation to the village? On a hill at the edge of Běstvina, in the middle of the local cemetery, which makes it a clearly visible landmark of the village.