Cathedral in Olomouc

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We were in a city two hours east of Prague recently called Olomouc. While we were there, we visited St. Wenceslas Cathedral and Museum. I'd like to share the beauty of this church with you.



St. Wenceslas was first built within the walled city of Olomouc during the 1100s. It was a smaller church at first that has been uncovered with archeological diggings recently. We were able to see some of the architectural ornamentation from back then.


The museum displayed many of the altarware pieces used in the cathedral over the centuries including this gorgeous monstrance, called the "Monstrance of Gold Sun of Moravia", containing 18 emeralds and over 400 diamonds.

Golden Sun of Moravia

Also in the museum was a chalice made from an ostrich egg, seen on the left. That must be one-of-a-kind.




Pulpit and main altar



The cathedral itself was heavily ornamented in gold fixtures and stained glass windows. It's so amazing to admire churches like this that have been used in worship for hundreds of years.

side altar



They allowed visitors to visit the crypt area where the remans of bishops and archbishops of past centuries are stored. I've never seen one of these before. The three caskets were from the 1500s to the 1700s.




During our tour of the museum, we were able to visit a side chapel that was in use three hundred years ago. In it, there was a display of Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. These life-size statues brought home the Maundy Thursday story to me personally. The three sleeping disciples thought only of themselves during Jesus' time of agony. How often do we treat Jesus in this exact same way?


I want to thank our friends from Olomouc for taking the time to share this cathedral and museum with us. It was a very special day indeed.







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