Article Manětín
A little-known baroque pearl of the Pilsen region
The town of Manětín is located 30 km north of Pilsen and for its Baroque monuments, extensive adjacent forests and interesting settlements in the area is an attraction for tourists and became a popular location for filmmakers. largely preserved to this day. Due to the number of Baroque monuments and several dozen preserved Baroque statues throughout the city, Manětín is often referred to as the Baroque pearl of western Bohemia. The historic core of the city was therefore rightly declared a city monument zone in 1992. There is a terraced square, on the south side of which stands the castle grounds.
Square with statues
The natural center of the city is a terraced square with a castle decorated with many statues. On the terrace above the castle, allegories of female characters by J. Herscher are particularly interesting. From the square with statues and fountains it is possible to see not only the castle, but also the church of St. John the Baptist, Baroque burgher houses and sculptures of the Holy Trinity.
Square with listed buildings
The square is beautifully landscaped and in addition to many Baroque statues, there are two fountains. On the south side is the magnificent castle building, on the north side there are several listed buildings.
Old Manětín Town Hall
On the south side of the square, opposite the Church of St. John the Baptist, there is a Baroque one-storey building of the old Manětín town hall from 1721. At the end of the 18th century, this building underwent a Classicist reconstruction. On the front of the house there is a cartouche with the emblem of the town Manětín.
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The heart of the picturesque town is the Manětín chateau, which was built here on the site of the original fortress at the end of the sixteenth century. Manětín Castle is a large one-storey building, which is connected to the castle garden with a fountain in the southern part. After the period of decline during the socialist period, there was an extensive restoration of the entire building. It is owned by the state and is open to the public. In the restored interiors you can see the original inventory, frescoes and a portrait gallery of the Lažanský family. The castle has been on the list of national cultural monuments since 2001.
Castle Garden
Adjacent to the chateau building is an ornamental garden, mentioned as early as 1604. After a fire in 1712, a French High Baroque garden with a distinctive central axis and a swimming pool in a flower garden was used in the garden, and an orangery was built in 1734. After nationalization in 1945, the park was devastated and a large oval pool in the center of the garden was established. In the 1990s, the devastated garden was restored and the swimming pool with a statue of a naked child in the center of the garden was repaired.
Chateau park
In 1809, a park in the English natural-landscape style was arranged next to the chateau in the area south of the Manětín brook. A pond with its own drive, a hermitage and a gazebo on an artificial hill were established here.
Church of St. John the Baptist
The dominant feature of the western side of Manětín Square is the Church of St. John the Baptist. Originally a Gothic single-nave church, it was destroyed by fire in 1712. It was subsequently baroqued and rededicated on June 24, 1717. A single-nave building with an indented presbytery and a prismatic tower with an onion dome. The interior of the church consists mainly of Baroque furnishings. An interesting feature is the manor oratory, which is accessible from the castle by a long covered corridor.
Connecting corridor from the castle to the church
The church is connected to the Manětín chateau by a connecting corridor leading to the church oratory. The connecting corridor is decorated with portraits of relatives and acquaintances of the Lažanský family ..
Church of St. Barbory
At the eastern tip of the town, on a high terrace, is the Baroque cemetery church of St. Barbora built in 1697. Unfortunately, the church is falling into disrepair and most of the valuable equipment was taken away.
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