The Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady stands at the Old Brno Abbey in Brno. Queen Elizabeth Richeza, a royal widow, founded a Cistercian convent here, and the church was built from 1323 to 1334 in the High Gothic style. It is described as a gem of Gothic architecture in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. The plan is cruciform, about 67 meters long, with a triple choir and rib vaults more than 22 meters high. It has 34 tracery windows and no tower, only a small spire above the crossing.
It is described as the region's first brick Gothic building, laid in Flemish bond with local crinoid limestone. The interior was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the eighteenth century.
Emperor Joseph II dissolved the abbey in 1783. Elizabeth Richeza is buried here, marked by a carved E with a small crown. Pope John Paul II made it a minor basilica in 1987.

Comments