Green Hill

Did you know that in the Czech republic there are two Green Hills? I have decided to link their history and suggest my own legend. I hope that you will enjoy it!

The Legend About the Green Hill

Once upon a time there were really bad times for people in Bohemia because the weather was really dry and it had not rained for a long time. The reason of this situation was that the bad genus Cheaters had an argument with good and kind genus Lords of Žďár.

Vojtech, from the genus Slavníkovci, was the bishop of Prague bishopric and he was very popular among ordinary people from the Highlands because of his willingness and reliability. This was the reason, why Lords of Žďár asked him to visit their manor. He immediately accepted their invitation and arrived in Žďár. He became very popular and the residents of Žďár persuaded him to stay with them.

Cheaters were so envious so finally Vojtech decided to leave. People blamed Cheaters of his leaving and many farmers decided to go to Lords of Žďár. That was the reason, why one of the Cheaters said horrible curse.

People were really frightened and they hoped that Vojtech will come back and save them.
On the green hill the old hermit Brimota was living in that time. One day he was visited by Vojtech, who went to Bohemia to save people from the curse. When people learned about his arrival, they all came and asked him for help.

Vojtech agreed and he stood on a stone. He started to pray and all people joined him

In that time it started to rain and the grass turned green and streams filled with water. Lords of Žďár thanked to Vojtěch and the decided to expel Cheaters from the Highlands. To remember this unusual day, Lords of Žďár decided to build there a church, and they started to call it the Green Hill.

Natálie Zelinková

Concert organised by Bigy

Filip Vaníček and Jakub Klement

Concert Monastery night

Jakub Klement and Filip Vaníček

Summer

Radka Filipi

Symbolism

Symbolic elements of the church were already admired in history. The basic principle is the composition of the five-pointed star.

Five-pointed star 

Where can we find the symbol?

What does five-pointed star mean?

What does legend says about the symbol?

Tongue 

Where can we find the tongue?

What does the symbol of ball mean?

Ball with five stars 

Where can we find the symbol?

What does symbol mean?

Entrance 

Where can we find the symbol?

What does statues mean?

What does legend says about the entrance?

Daniel Jirman

Václav Vejmluva

Václav Vejmluva was born in 1670. When he was 18 he left his family, who owned a brewery in Brno and came to Žďár. However the same year the church in Žďár burnt and it was not possible to live there, so Václav went to Western Bohemia. After moving here he started to study in Prague and in 1695 he became a priest.

When he came back to Žďár after studying in Prague, the church was renovated by a new abbot Edmund Wagner. At the beginning Vejmluva worked there as an economist and then helped to abbot.

In 1705 the abbot Wagner died, Vejmluva became a new abbot , he was confirmed by the Emperor.

The following years of Vejmluva’s life were dedicated to the unceasing care of the economic and spiritual development of the monastery.

After a few years Vaclav met a young architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel. In this time there were formed magnificent buildings, some of the buldings have been preserved up to now. The pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk on the Green Hill is rightly considered the most remarkable building designed by Santini.

In 1737 the monastery set on fire and the fire burnt a large part of the library. The fire had a huge tragic impact on sixty-seven-year-old abbot Vejmluva. The old man didn’t manage to cope with the horrible accident and three days after the fire he died.

Eva Fousová

Jan Blažej Santini Aichel (3. 2. 1677 – 7. 12. 1723)

Jan Blažej Santini Aichel was one of the most famous architects and painters in his period. He was born on 3th February 1677 in Prague as the oldest son of a stone artist. His family supposed that young Santini will continue in the same craft as his father, but he was more interested in art, so his dad helped him to realise his dreams to be an architect. We don't correctly know who was Santini's teacher of art, but it may be Jean Baptista Mathey and Jean Schröder. He travelled around Italy and Austria where he had an oppurtunity to take some experiences, especially of a radical architect Francesco Boromini. 

In 1700 Santini kept his own building company and he could start project monuments. He got unfinished projects by J. B. Matheye after his death and he finished them. He met Wolfgang Lochner who was the first important customer for him a few years later. After this meeting he received lots of contacts to other customers especially abbots of Cistercian monasteries who fancied Aichel's work. Abbots were the most interested people of Santini's work. He worked for abbot Jindřich Snopek from Sedleč, abbot Evžen Tyll for whom Santini built Plasy, for abbot Václav Vejmluva for whom he projected the church on the Green Hill in Žďár nad Sázavou.

He got married Veronika Alžběta, a daughter of Schröder in 1707, in the year when his teacher of art Schröder already died. They had 4 children, but 3 of them (all boys) died as children and only his daughter Anna Veronika survived. In 1720 his wife Veronika died too, so his personal life was not as easy as we could think. These sad events did not break his personality and he got married again and approached to an aristocratic family one year later and started really a new life.

Information about Santini are not clear enough.

Perhaps about 60 monuments were designed and built by him and ten of them are well – known master pieces. I want to mention some of his projects - it is the reconstruction of the gothic cathedral in Sedlec, the project of a church in Křtiny which was not realised exactly according to his plans, project of castle Charles Crown in Chlumec nad Cidlinou or the most famous project of the church on the Green Hill.

Santini was humble during his life so we cannot be suprised that his tomb is not in a famous cemetery, but it is in a small church of St. Jan in Prague. This succesful architect will never be forgettable because his monuments will show us his work for long times and especially his baroque -gothic style is unbelievely monumetal for us nowadays.

Radka Filipi