Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary: A Baroque Church in Česká Lípa
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Bohemia
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page9 sections
History
The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic filial church in Česká Lípa, Czechia, built in the Baroque style between 1710 and 1714. It replaced a wooden Gothic church dating from 1381 and is administered by the Česká Lípa city parish-deanery within the Diocese of Litoměřice, part of the Czech ecclesiastical province.
Baroque Reconstruction
Builder Josef Abbondi constructed the present stone church in the early eighteenth century. The building took shape on the site of the earlier Gothic church, preserving the location’s long association with Christian worship. Its tower was added later, in 1873.
Decline and Restoration
During the second half of the twentieth century, the church ceased to serve religious purposes and was converted into a storage facility. Shortly after 1989, local volunteers repaired the building in an effort initiated by the Česká Lípa administrator, the Augustinian Father Ivan Josef Peša. Bishop Josef Koukl of Litoměřice subsequently reconsecrated the church, and regular services resumed.
Memorial and Religious Traditions
The church has been protected as a cultural monument since 1965 and lies within the Česká Lípa Urban Conservation Zone, designated in 1992. The parish continues to hold a thanksgiving service each year on 21 November, commemorating the end of the plague epidemic that affected Česká Lípa in 1580.
Remains
The church is a Baroque stone building on Palackého Square beside Újezd Street. Its entrance is set in the western facade, and the tower added in 1873 forms part of the surviving exterior. Inside, the main altar dated 1718 is accompanied by six side altars, while the presbytery, the area around the principal altar traditionally reserved for clergy, contains richly decorated choir stalls with inlay.
Altars and Interior Furnishings
Paintings and Altars
The central side altar on the north wall holds a Gothic panel painting of the dead Christ resting in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Set within a Baroque frame, the image originally belonged to the Gothic church that stood on the site. Another side altar contains a Baroque painting by the Burgundian painter Jean Claude Monnot, showing a local physician caring for victims of the 1580 plague epidemic in Česká Lípa.
Choir Stalls
The choir stalls in the presbytery were transferred to Česká Lípa from Prague after the dissolution of the Benedictine Monastery of St Nicholas in the Old Town. Their richly worked inlay remains a notable part of the church interior.
Former Cemetery
A municipal cemetery formerly stood beside the church until it was abolished in 1885. The former cemetery area retains damaged gravestones and the preserved Empire-style tomb of Heinrich Wedrich, a local factory owner, collector, and patron. Several better-preserved tomb slabs are attached to the church wall.
