Gold Coin 2000 CZK Monastery in Vyšší Brod Early Gothic 2001 Proof

Gold Coin - Ten Centuries of Architecture - Early Gothic

On the obverse side, in the upper half of the coin field, there is a loose composition of stylized heraldic animals from the great state emblem of the Czech Republic, the Czech lion, the Moravian and Silesian eagles. The name of the state 'CZECH REPUBLIC' is in the line below this composition. In the lower half of the coin field there is a fragment of a Gothic circular window with the denomination of the coin's face value '2000 CZK' incorporated into the central ornament. At the bottom edge of the coin is the unenclosed inscription 'TEN CENTURIES OF ARCHITECTURE'.

The central motif of the reverse side is a sculptural transcription of the second painting from the cycle of the Master of the Vyšebrod Altar of the Nativity of the Lord depicting the most important founder of the Vyšší Brod monastery, Vok of Rožmberk, with a model of the building on his hands. Above the model of the monastery is a five-leaved Rose of Rosenberg and the year of minting of the coin, which complement the main motif. At the upper edge of the coin there is an unsealed inscription 'RANÁ GOTIKA', at the lower edge the inscription 'KLÁŠTER VYŠŠÍ BROD'. The initials of the author of the design, academic sculptor Michal Vitanovský, joined in the shape of a stylised heart, are on the right side of the coin.

Monastery Vyšší Brod

The monastery church with adjacent buildings was built gradually from the 1360s onwards, and was completed in the 1480s. The oldest is believed to be the two-storey sacristy from around 1270, which was formerly used as an abbot's chapel, but was probably first used as the first monastic sanctuary by all the monks.

In the 1360s-80s, the eastern part of the church and the transept with adjacent chapels were built, creatively blending North French Classical Gothic, the more dynamic Post-Classical style and earlier phases of Bohemian architecture. The chapel of the Guardian Angels in the former Cistercian monastery Zlatá Koruna is very close to the activity of the first Vyšebrod building factory. The vault of the chapter hall (around 1285) is a specific style manifestation, consisting of four three-beams growing from a single column in the middle of the hall.

The building company that completed the church continued in a completely different vein. Its work is the three-bay nave, completed around 1385, when the entire cloister was already standing. In addition to the above-mentioned buildings, other medieval buildings were built on the monastery grounds. In 1379, the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene in front of the monastery fortress and the hospital of St. Elizabeth outside the monastery enclosure are mentioned. In the western part of the grounds were farm buildings, of which the Gothic mill building is still preserved. The southern, western and part of the eastern wings of the convent were rebuilt in Renaissance style, the upper floor in Baroque style. Between the convent and the prelature to the east, the so-called old convent was built in 1587, from which the wing of the seniorate, novitiate and hospital run southwards.

In 1671 the first church tower was built. The prelature building absorbed two smaller buildings from the late 14th century when it was rebuilt in the 18th century. In 1757 a library hall decorated with frescoes was built. The last reconstruction and rebuilding took place between 1830 and 1862, under Abbot Leopold Wackarz, who substantially restored the church in the neo-Gothic style and added a slender tower. The next building intervention dates back to 1904. Its remote location protected the monastery from the adversities of war and the monastery grounds remained essentially intact.

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