Velehrad

Velehrad ( German Welehrad ) is a municipality in the Czech Republic. It is located five kilometers north-west of Stare Mesto and belongs to Okres Uherské Hradiště. The place is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the country.

Geography

Velehrad located at the eastern foot of the mountain Mars in Moravian Slovakia. The village lies in the valley of the brook brook Salaška above the confluence of the Modranský at its confluence with the Salaška and forms the east with Modra a cohesive development. To the north of the hill rises Hrušová ( 389 m).

Neighboring towns are Jankovice and Kopaniny in the north, Modra in the northeast, Staré Město in the southeast, and Zlechov Tupesy in the south, Břestek the southwest, Chabane in the west and Salas in the northwest.

History

Pottery finds indicate a prehistoric settlement on the territory of the municipality until 5000 BC

At the time of the Moravian principality arose east of the modern village on the hill above the confluence of the creek and Modranský Salaška one of the oldest stone Christian church building in the country. The proximity to the city Weligrad suggests that later have the apostles Cyril and Methodius preached in the church. Between the 9th and 13th centuries went out this important settlement.

In 1205 Margrave Vladislav Henry founded on the right bank of the Salaška the first Moravian Cistercian monastery. The monastery Welgrad got its name from the old center of Great Moravia, Weligrad and should be the grave lay the Margrave of Moravia. At the same time the settlement Weligrad was transferred to the monastery. The monastery was completed by 1240. To the monastery arose farm buildings from which the village grew Welehrad. 1421 the Hussites burned down the monastery.

The abbot of Eckardt Schwoben headed in the years 1587-1592 a reconstruction of the monastery. During the Thirty Years' War Bethlen Gábor 1623 devastated the monastery. 1626 invaded the insurgent Vlachs. Under the abbot John Greifenlels of Pils castle, the monastery 1629-1635 has been restored. 1681 a fire destroyed parts of the plant. According to plans by Giovanni Pietro Tencalla the plant received its present form 1685-1735. As part of the Josephine reforms in 1784, the monastery was abolished. The Church of the Assumption became a parish church for the surrounding villages. Two years later in the corridors of monastic sheep farm colony Neudorf. 1826 was the parsonage. The monasteries have been used and misused disrepair.

After the abolition of patrimonial was 1848, the municipality Velehrad / Welehrad in the district of Hungarian Hradisch. 1890 took over the Jesuit Order, the monastery and built a college, which was later converted into a school. In 1900 Welehrad had 610 inhabitants. Pope Pius XI. raised the monastery church in 1927 for minor Basilica. Between 1942 and 1945 the school was closed and transferred to the Hitler Youth.

After the Second World War, the Jesuit High School took the lessons again. After the seizure of power by the Communists in 1950 was closed as part of the "Action K ". The National Pilgrimage 1985 in Velehrad designed despite restrictions a manifestation against the communist regime. The basilica was then given in the same year by Pope John Paul II bestowed the Golden Rose. 1990 John Paul II visited the place. The Order returned back to Velehrad 1990 and built in 2001, the school again. After the establishment by Bishop Jan Graubner named after Anton Cyril Stojan Stojanovo gymnázium, in 2004 to teach.

In 1993, the Czech youth meeting was held in Velehrad to the 8000 participants came. In addition to the Jesuits today act in Velehrad with the Congregations of the Sisters of St.. Cyril and Methodius ( Kongregace sester sv. Cyrila a Metoděje ) and the Slovak Sisters of Divine Salvation ( Kongregácie Sestier Božského Vykupiteľa ) two other Catholic religious order.

Coat of arms

Description: In a blue red and white quartered smooth cut goldschnäbliger and so also gezungter eagle head with a golden crown of lilies.

Community structure

For the community Velehrad no districts are reported.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Gottfried Bernhard Goz (1708-1774), Austrian painter
• Josef Valentin Zlobický (1743-1810), Czech philologist and from October 7, 1775 the first professor of Czech language and literature at the University of Vienna

Attractions

• Monastery Velehrad Basilica of the Assumption and St. Cyril and Methodius, consecrated in 1228 awarded by Bishop Robert of England, the Sanctuary was established in 1985 with the Golden Rose

• Marian column on the western monastery gate, built in 1681
• Plague of the 1715
• Column with image of St. John of Nepomuk
• Statue of Christ on the road to Staré Město in 1703
• Archeoskanzen Modra on the eastern outskirts
• Foundations of a 9th century erected at the junction of 8 stone chapel with probably the biggest Salzburg baptismal font. Located in the area of Modra church is possibly one of the oldest stone buildings in the Czech lands
• Church of St. John, on the eastern outskirts in Modra, replica of the original church from the 9th century
• Megalith Králův stůl, north of the village, probably part of a prehistoric solar calendar