St Thomas's Abbey, Brno

The St. Thomas Abbey in Old Brno, Czech Augustiniánské opatství svatého Tomáše na Starém Brně, is an abbey in Brno, Czech Republic. The abbey was originally a Cistercian monastery and is now an abbey of Augustinian Hermits. Pope John Paul II elevated the monastery church in 1987 for minor Basilica.

Cistercian monastery of St. Mary's Hall

The Aula Sanctae Mariae Cistercian monastery was founded in 1323 by Queen Elizabeth, widow of King Wenceslas II and widow of Rudolf of Habsburg, with the support of the Olomouc Bishop Konrad. It was therefore popularly called Queen Monastery. The rights of patronage exercised the Monastery Sedlec. As part of the Josephine reforms in 1782, the monastery was dissolved.

Augustinian Hermits

1783, the vacant, former Cistercian monastery has been assigned the Old Brno Augustinian Hermits, the náměstí their Abbey of St. Thomas today Moravské had to leave in Brno. The monastery was closed in 1950 by the communist government. 1989 returned the Augustinian back to the abbey.

The original Brno Augustinian monastery of St. Thomas was founded in 1350. It has been raised in 1752 to the Abbey because the clergy had to send a representative to meetings of the Parliament of the Moravian estates and Brno bishopric in 1777 was only in the year. From this historical fact there is the peculiarity that Brno is the world's only abbey of the Augustinian Hermits Order ( OSA).

Gregor Mendel was from 1868 until his death in 1884 abbot of this monastery.