Former Dominican monastery

The former Dominican monastery with the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary is one of the oldest and most valuable historical monuments of České Budějovice and can be found on Piaristický náměstí, which was a Dominican cemetery until the middle of the 18th century. The purgrave of Zvíkov, on behalf of Přemysl Otakar II, gave the monastic order of preachers a suitable plot of land and also a part of the meadow opposite the church behind the river. A garden was to be established there to ensure peace for the monastery. The monastery was part of a fortification line being built. The unfinished church was consecrated for worship in 1274. However, the monastic convent itself was built gradually and over a relatively long period of time. It was not completed until after 1380, when a well chapel was built, protruding from the square plan of the convent.

The interior of the church preserves remnants of rare painted decorations from the 14th and 15th centuries (e.g. a ten-metre high figure of St. Christopher, St. Dorothy, the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and St. George). Rare murals can also be found in the cloister. To the south of the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary is a monastery building with a Gothic ambo. Inside the convent there is a paradise courtyard, which is surrounded on all sides by an admirable corridor of the cross. You can also see the so-called White Tower, which dates back to the late Gothic period, has a Baroque tower and with its height of 51 metres is still an important landmark of the city's skyline. 

The five Baroque sculptures in the garden of the monastery by Josef Dietrich are also unique. They originally stood at the entrance to the monastery church. It is said that the sculptor lent his own face to the statue of St. Joseph.

Virtual tour here