Baroque church • Rožnov pod Radhoštěm
A landmark of the centre two and a half centuries old. The clock on its tower still measures out Rožnov's day.
A few steps from Masaryk Square stands the oldest surviving building in the centre of Rožnov – the baroque Church of All Saints, completed in 1752 on the site of an earlier wooden church. Its fifty-metre tower with an onion dome, a clock and bells is a landmark of the town.
Around the church lies a quiet garden on the site of the former graveyard. Its enclosure wall carries the Stations of the Cross, and inside stands an ossuary.
Why come here
The baroque church of 1752 stands where people gathered before Rožnov was first written about. Inside you will find art from the baroque to present-day Rožnov woodcarvers, and behind the church a garden on the site of the old graveyard.
What not to miss
The high altar is dominated by the painting of All Saints by Anthonis Schoonjans, a Flemish painter of the imperial court. Behind the church lies a garden on the site of the old graveyard – with an ossuary, the Stations of the Cross in the enclosure wall and an orchard.
When to come
From May to September the Otevřené brány project opens the church with guided tours. For the rest of the year the church is open during services; the garden invites you to pause at any time on a walk through the centre.
A wooden church stood here before the town was first written about. A baroque building with a tower full of bells replaced it. For almost a century it held documents that had long been forgotten.
Beginnings
A place of worship stood on the site of today's church before 1267, when the market town of Rožnov is first recorded in writing. The parish here is first documented in 1490, and from 1666 there has been a permanent clergy. The oldest description of the church dates from 1672 – a small wooden church stood here then.
In the mid-18th century it was replaced by today's baroque building by an unknown builder, finally completed in 1752. The single-nave building with a tower projecting from the north front has survived almost unchanged ever since and is protected as a cultural monument.
The tower
The tower projecting from the north front measures 50 metres and carries an onion dome with a lantern; the smaller turret on the roof ridge is a sanctus turret. Behind the clock faces a historic movement works, and in the bell chamber hang bells that ring on feast days and on weekdays alike.
The tower kept a secret for a long time. During its restoration, craftsmen found tubes with historic documents that their predecessors had placed in the dome during repairs to the tower in 1876 and 1909. The container went back into place in 2007 – with documents of the present day added, for whoever opens the dome next.
Bells and wars
As early as 1762 three bells hung in the tower. In 1889 the tower received four new ones – but during the First World War the authorities seized them in the mass requisitioning of bells for making weapons. According to the available sources, the bells acquired after the republic was founded met the same fate. The bell chamber thus filled and emptied with every war – the sources say a single bell came through both requisitions, an 18th-century passing bell. Today's bells have hung in the tower since the middle of the 20th century.
“Sv. Josefe, oroduj za nás!” – “Saint Joseph, pray for us!”the inscription on one of today's bells
Today's bells carry the names of saints and the mark of a bell foundry from Česká u Brna.
Interior
A single piece of the original baroque furnishing has survived – and it is the most valuable one. The high altar in the chancel is dominated by the painting of All Saints by Anthonis Schoonjans, a sought-after Flemish painter who worked for the noble courts of Europe and spent much of his life at the imperial court in Vienna.
At the end of the 19th century the interior went through a thorough rebuilding – apart from the high altar, the baroque furnishings were replaced by newer pieces and the church was given complete painted decoration with biblical scenes. Of all that painting, only the frescoes on the vault remain.
Later layers were added by artists tied to the region: the statues of Saints Cyril and Methodius were given to the church by the sculptor Albín Polášek, the figure of Saint Wenceslas was made by the Rožnov sculptor Emil Solařík, and the wood-carved Stations of the Cross were carved by the local artist Bohumil Knill. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was brought back from Lourdes by Rožnov parishioners.
The organ
The organ in the loft has behind it more than two and a half centuries of repairs and rebuilds. The oldest documented repair dates from before 1777 and was made by the organ builder Fr. Schwarz; in 1800 two organ builders worked on the instrument at once – Jan Praský and Jan Piskoř.
Johann Neusser first repaired the instrument in 1836, but in 1863 he built an entirely new organ – with 19 stops on two manuals. Matěj Strmiska repaired it once more in 1934, before a new organ was built in 1936. It was built from the ground up by the Rieger company of Krnov – with 21 stops on two manuals. In 1962 the same works added six more stops, bringing it to today's 27.
The Krnov firm Rieger was among the most important organ works in central Europe, and its instruments stand in concert halls all over the world. Production continued there under the successor name Rieger-Kloss until 2015, when it ended.
The town graveyard used to lie around the church – burials took place here until 1889. In time a parish garden grew on the site. The stone wall around it carries fourteen Stations of the Cross.
In the garden stands an ossuary holding the bones from cleared graves. The parish now puts on exhibitions in it – a sign by the church points to “Galerie Kostnice”. It is usually open in the summer season, alongside tours of the church.
The rest of the garden is a grassy orchard with fruit trees and beds – a quiet place, a step from the square, to stop for a while and think.
Timeline
before 1267
A church building stood here before 1267, when the market town of Rožnov is first mentioned in writing.
1490
The Rožnov parish is first mentioned in written sources; permanent clergy are documented from 1666.
1672
The oldest surviving description records a small wooden church on the site of today's building.
1752
After years of building, the new masonry church is finally completed, interiors and all. The builder's name has not survived.
1762
Three bells are recorded in the tower; the passing bell from that time has survived to this day, according to the sources.
1889
The graveyard around the church is closed – a parish garden later grows on the site. The tower receives four new bells.
late 19th c.
A thorough rebuilding of the interior: of the baroque furnishings the high altar remains, and the church is given painted decoration with frescoes.
1909
Craftsmen repair the tower and place a tube of documents in the dome – as their predecessors had done in 1876.
1936
The loft receives an instrument from the Rieger works in Krnov; in 1962 the same works enlarges it to 27 stops.
1957
A years-long overhaul of the church begins; in 1983 the roof is given copper covering.
2007
The tubes from the repairs of 1876 and 1909, found during restoration of the tower, are supplemented with documents of the present day and returned to the dome.
No. Tours under the Otevřené brány project (May–September) are free.
Yes, the All Saints garden is freely accessible at any time. Exhibitions in the ossuary itself (Galerie Kostnice) are usually open in the summer season, alongside tours of the church.
The tower measures 50 metres and is visible from much of the town and from the surrounding hills.
No, the church serves a living parish – wait for the service to end before looking around.
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