Neposkvrněného početí Panny Marie

The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, standing on Křenová Street in Brno's Trnitá district, is one of the city's most distinctive Art Nouveau religious buildings. Still an active parish church today, it is also protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

Where in Brno is this church located?

The church sits in the Brno-město district, in the Trnitá neighborhood, along the busy Křenová street not far from the historic center. This spot sat at the edge of Brno's industrial quarter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, surrounded by factories and workers' housing that the parish was meant to serve.

What stood here before the current building?

Long before this church existed, the site held a medieval leper hospital together with a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen. Margrave Jošt granted this foundation to the city back in 1382. The hospital operated for centuries until it was shut down in 1782, and the old church, by then obsolete, was finally torn down in 1908 to clear the ground for something new.

How was the present church built?

The foundation stone for the new building was laid on August 18, 1910. Architect Franz Holik designed it in the Art Nouveau style then fashionable across the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Because the ground along Křenová turned out to be swampy, the foundations had to be reinforced with a reinforced-concrete lattice, an unusually advanced engineering solution for a parish church of that era. The building itself rests on reinforced-concrete pillars and a concrete slab rather than traditional masonry, which was still uncommon for churches at the time. Construction moved quickly, and the finished church was consecrated on January 18, 1914, by the Bishop of Brno, Pavel Huyn.

What does the church look like inside and out?

The building follows a cross-shaped ground plan, roughly 46 meters long and 19 meters wide, a substantial footprint for a neighborhood parish church. Inside, the main altar is carved from white marble in Art Nouveau style, complemented by matching wall paintings and confessionals designed in the same decorative language. Because almost everything was created within the same short building campaign, the interior reads as a unified whole, rather than the patchwork of styles typical of churches rebuilt and redecorated over centuries.

Why is it worth a visit?

This church is one of the few in Brno conceived entirely in the Art Nouveau idiom, with no earlier layers to complicate the design. For anyone interested in early 20th-century architecture, it offers a rare chance to see cutting-edge construction technology of the period, reinforced concrete and lattice foundations, paired with the ornamental richness typical of Art Nouveau sacred spaces.

Frequently asked questions

Is the church still in use today? Yes, it functions as the active parish church of the Trnitá district, with regular services held there.

Who designed the building? The architect Franz Holik designed the church, giving it its distinctive Art Nouveau character.

What occupied this site before the church was built? A medieval leper hospital with the Church of St. Stephen stood here, founded by Margrave Jošt in 1382, closed in 1782, and demolished in 1908.

Is the church a protected heritage site? Yes, it is listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic thanks to its unique Art Nouveau architecture and engineering.