Vranov, kostel Narození Panny Marie

Vranov u Brna is a well-known pilgrimage site. We can find it about 12 km north of Brno, surrounded by beautiful landscape. This is the reason why this area used to be called “the Moravian Switzerland”. The church is visited by many pilgrims every year and the history of this place dates back to the 13th century. According to the pious Pauline chronicles, the history of the pilgrimage site started in 1240, when Vilém, the nobleman and the provincial official, was healed from his blindness a the intercession of Blessed Mary, the Mother of the God. Because he was grateful to her, he had a wooden church built in Vranov, and pilgrims started to come there from that time. The current parish and pilgrimage church was built together with the monastery from 1617 to 1633. Prince Maxmilian of Liechtenstein, the owner of the Vranov estate, had them built according to the plans of Jan Maria, the Jesuit architect. The builder was Ondřej Erna from Brno. The church is a single-nave building of early-Baroque style. The lovely wooden statuette of the Virgin Mary of Vranov with nearly clasped hands and slightly tilted head is the dominant of the main altar. The statuette is a masterpiece of an unknown French carver and it was made before the year 1500. The first Paulines who came to Vranov probably brought it. The altarpiece of the Holy Trinity was made by Paul Troger, the Viennese painter. The church vault is richly decorated by frescos, which depict the Mother of God surrounded by angels and glorified. The author is the painter Jan Jiří Etgens. A crypt is also the part of the church. It was built together with the church for the founder´s family. Today´s Empire style of the crypt comes from the beginning of the 19th century. Expensive reconstruction was done at that time. 50 members of the Lichtenstein family are still buried there. The last was Princess Marie Benedict in January 1992, who wanted to be buried next to her father (buried in 1938 there). The fact, that members of the ruling family of a foreign state want to be buried outside of their country, is unique in the world. And this is the case of the rulers of the Principality of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein).

Distance from the object

Railway station

Bus stop