The Rectory in Cetkovice

The rectory in Cetkovice is a Baroque building standing next to the Church of Saints Philip and James in the small village of Cetkovice, in the Blansko district of Moravia. Although it now serves the ordinary function of a parish house, its origins are surprisingly secular — it was built as a summer residence for an abbot, not as a home for an ordinary parish priest.

Who built it, and why?

The building was constructed between 1761 and 1762 on the initiative of Pavel Ferdinand Václavík, the last abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery at Hradisko near Olomouc. It was intended as the abbot's summer retreat, a place to escape the routine of monastic life, rather than a rectory in the modern sense. It was only later events that gave the building the role it still holds today.

How did a summer house become a rectory?

The turning point came in 1784, when Joseph II's church reforms led to the dissolution of the Hradisko monastery. The abbey's property, including the building in Cetkovice, passed under the administration of the so-called Religious Fund, a state institution set up to manage the assets of dissolved monasteries. It was this fund that decided to convert the former summer residence into a rectory serving the local parish attached to the Church of Saints Philip and James.

What disasters struck the building?

The newly established rectory soon suffered a series of fires. Just a year after the fund took it over, in 1785, the building burned down together with the neighbouring church during a larger fire that swept through the village. History repeated itself in 1818, when fire again destroyed part of the structure. On both occasions the rectory was rebuilt, which explains why the present-day building bears traces of several distinct construction phases.

The most dramatic event in the building's history, however, involved not fire but a storm. On 21 June 1904, lightning struck the rectory's roof and chimney during a thunderstorm, killing a servant named Julie Kubínová.

What still recalls the building's abbatial past?

Above the rectory's entrance, the coat of arms of Abbot Pavel Václavík has survived to this day, decorated with the insignia of abbatial office. It is one of the few clearly legible traces of the building's original secular purpose, and a reminder of the Hradisko monastery itself, which no longer exists but whose legacy lives on in this unassuming Moravian village.

Are there valuable items inside?

The interior of the rectory holds a handful of objects of artistic and historical value, including paintings dating from the late 18th century and a gilded silver chalice from 1625 — older than the building itself, which suggests that some of the liturgical furnishings arrived here from earlier church sources.

What does the rectory look like today?

The building is listed as a protected cultural monument (registration number 0422) and is regarded as one of the historically and architecturally most valuable structures in Cetkovice, alongside the church standing right next to it. A thorough renovation took place in 1973, when the windows, facade and gutters were replaced, followed by further conservation work in 1998. The rectory still fulfils its original — if secondarily assigned — role as a parish house.

Where is the rectory located?

The building stands in the centre of the village of Cetkovice, in the Blansko district of the South Moravian Region, directly next to the Church of Saints Philip and James, together forming a small but coherent group of protected monuments.

Frequently asked questions

What was the Cetkovice rectory originally built as? A summer residence for Pavel Ferdinand Václavík, the last abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery at Hradisko near Olomouc, built between 1761 and 1762.

When did the building become a rectory? After the Hradisko monastery was dissolved in 1784, when its property passed to the Religious Fund, which turned the building into a rectory for the parish at the Church of Saints Philip and James.

What fires affected the rectory? The building burned down in 1785 (together with the church) and again in 1818, requiring reconstruction each time.

What happened in 1904? On 21 June 1904, lightning struck the rectory's roof and chimney during a storm, killing a servant, Julie Kubínová.

Is the rectory a protected monument? Yes, it is listed as a cultural monument under registration number 0422 and is considered one of the most historically valuable buildings in Cetkovice.