St. Wenceslas Cathedral - Tourist Information Portal of the Olomouc Region

St. Wenceslas Cathedral


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The monumental originally Romanesque cathedral from the 12th century is the most important church in Olomouc. It has undergone a number of reconstructions and today it towers over Olomouc in a neo-Gothic form.

The Cathedral of St. Wenceslas belongs inseparably to the panorama of the city. The third, south tower, exactly 100.65 m high, is the highest church tower in Moravia (and the second highest in the Czech Republic). The Gothic pillars date back to the 13th century. At the end of the 19th century, the cathedral took on a neo-Gothic appearance. On the sides of the entrance to the chapel are tombstones from the 16th and early 17th centuries. The entrance to the cathedral consists of three lofty neo-Gothic portals with artistic reliefs in fine sandstone depicting the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, the Holy Trinity and the Nativity of the Lord Jesus. Between the gables of the portals are statues of the Evangelists. In the centre of the façade there is a circular stained glass window, the so-called mystical rose. In the upper façade there are statues of the patron saints of the country, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and above them there is a statue of St. Wenceslas, the patron saint of the church. On the first pillar of the central nave hangs a cross of great artistic value. Opposite the Loreto chapel is a copy of a stone Gothic pietà. On the pillars in the central part of the nave there are statues of seven angels. The entire church space is extended by four chapels: the Baroque Loreto Chapel, the Renaissance Chapel of St. Stanislaus, the choir chapel of St. Cyril and Methodius and the chapel of St. John the Baptist.

History of the Cathedral

The cathedral was probably built as early as the 12th century, in connection with the establishment of the Olomouc bishopric in 1063.

Around 1100, the Moravian prince Svatopluk laid the foundations for a new church on the Cathedral hill in the area of the new princely stronghold. After the death of Svatopluk, his son Václav continued the construction of the church and in 1130, on his deathbed, he handed it over to Bishop Jindřich Zdík for completion. Bishop Jindřich Zdík consecrated the temple in 1131 and transferred his episcopal seat to the Church of St. Wenceslas. Zdík's basilica was three-aisled with two smaller towers. Only the foundations of the outer walls, the Romanesque crypt buried under the nave pavement and the lower part of the towers under modern plaster have been preserved. Over the centuries, the basilica has undergone many stylistic modifications.

One of the most significant interventions in the architecture of Olomouc Cathedral is the new construction of the Baroque presbytery by Cardinal František Dietrichstein in the first half of the 17th century.

The appearance that the cathedral acquired in the Baroque period was preserved until the end of the 19th century. However, it was fragmented in style and lacked harmony, and it also contradicted the spirit and style of the late 19th century, so it was rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style between 1883 and 1890. The extensive Neo-Gothic reconstruction of the cathedral meant the re-Gothicisation not only of the cathedral's external appearance but also of the entire interior. The Baroque altars were removed from the interior and replaced with smaller Neo-Gothic altars. Loreto Chapel The originally Gothic chapel of Sts Cyril and Methodius dates from around the 14th century. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the chapel was baroqueised with a new altar and rich sculptural and pictorial decoration. 

From May to September, the crypt is open to the public as an exhibition of rare religious vestments, reliquaries, monstrances and other liturgical utensils from the cathedral's inventory.

Zavřít

Tourist information


Václavské náměstí
779 00 Olomouc

Do you know


  • On the neo-Gothic altar there is a reliquary with the relics of St. John Sarkander.
  • The cathedral organ is one of the best Romantic instruments in the country.

Famous personalities


  • Rudolf Jan Habsburský
  • Václav III.