Kladruby

Kladruby is a beautiful village located in the Plze? region, near the town St?ibro. Kladruby is a popular religious site of the Czech Republic. The Kladruby monastery situated in Kladruby village is among the oldest monasteries in the country. In 1114, Kladruby monastery was built by Prince Vladislav. With the passage of time the monastery became rich and powerful and a number of times it gave shelter to the Emperor Charles IV. In 1421, during the Hussite revolutionary movement, Jan Zizka of Trocnov captured the monastery.

The present form of the monastery was constructed during the 18th century by the architect Giovanni B. Santini. He reconstructed the monastery in the Baroque Gothic style. Santini replaced the towers of the cathedral by a magniloquent dome with a golden duke crown. It is believed that the founder of the monastery Vladislav I, is buried in the cathedral. In 1726, the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary was completed. A new convent continued the construction of the monastery complex and its architect was Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer. The construction of the building was finished in the year 1770.

The monastery was abolished during the Josephine reforms. The monastery complex in Kladruby had a hospital, barracks, a brewery and home for disabled soldiers. Alfred Windischgratz, the field marshal in 1825 auctioned the monastery and it was taken over by the government.