amandia
Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia.
After his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138, the bishop of Olomouc, Jindřich Zdík, took hold of the idea of founding a monastery of regular canons in Prague. He had the support of the bishops of Prague and Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia and -- after his death -- Vladislav II. After Zdík's first unsuccessful attempt to found a Czech variant of the canons' order at the place called Strahov in 1140, an invitation was issued to the Premonstratensians, whose first representatives arrived from Steinfeld in the Rhine valley (now Germany).
The monks began to build their monastery first of wood, with a Romanesque basilica as the center of all spiritual events in Strahov. The building was gradually completed and the construction of the monastery stone buildings continued, in order to replace the provisional wooden living quarters with permanent stone. In 1258, the monastery was heavily damaged by fire and later renewed.
It has been rebuilt numerous times since, due to the ravages of various wars. It is likely not the monastery itself, nor its church, however, that astonishes visitors. That distinction goes to the the library within its walls.
The library is divided into two major halls: the Baroque Theological Hall contains 18,000 religious texts, and the grand Philosophical Hall has over 42,000 ancient philosophical texts. The libraries hold many rare volumes, are masterfully frescoed, and contain 17th-century geographical globes.
Above the shelves of the Theological Hall are gilded wooded-carved decorations with wooden cartouches. These functioned as a sort of beautiful early card catalogue system. The pictures in the wooden cartouches and their titles specified the type of literature stored on the shelves below.
Of special note is the compilation wheel, used by 17th-century scribes to compile texts. The scribe would place various texts that he needed to copy from on the wheel, which functioned as a kind of rotating shelf. A planetary mechanism inside ensured that the books were always held at the same angle, even as they spun around.
Strahov also contains a beautiful cabinet of curiosities, brought to the monastery from the estate of Karel Jan Erben in 1798. The hall of cabinets include bits of a dodo bird, a large 18th-century electrostatic device, numerous old ocean specimens, insects, minerals, anthropological artifacts, and for unclear reasons, many glass cases full of wax fruit.
Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia.
After his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138, the bishop of Olomouc, Jindřich Zdík, took hold of the idea of founding a monastery of regular canons in Prague. He had the support of the bishops of Prague and Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia and -- after his death -- Vladislav II. After Zdík's first unsuccessful attempt to found a Czech variant of the canons' order at the place called Strahov in 1140, an invitation was issued to the Premonstratensians, whose first representatives arrived from Steinfeld in the Rhine valley (now Germany).
The monks began to build their monastery first of wood, with a Romanesque basilica as the center of all spiritual events in Strahov. The building was gradually completed and the construction of the monastery stone buildings continued, in order to replace the provisional wooden living quarters with permanent stone. In 1258, the monastery was heavily damaged by fire and later renewed.
It has been rebuilt numerous times since, due to the ravages of various wars. It is likely not the monastery itself, nor its church, however, that astonishes visitors. That distinction goes to the the library within its walls.
The library is divided into two major halls: the Baroque Theological Hall contains 18,000 religious texts, and the grand Philosophical Hall has over 42,000 ancient philosophical texts. The libraries hold many rare volumes, are masterfully frescoed, and contain 17th-century geographical globes.
Above the shelves of the Theological Hall are gilded wooded-carved decorations with wooden cartouches. These functioned as a sort of beautiful early card catalogue system. The pictures in the wooden cartouches and their titles specified the type of literature stored on the shelves below.
Of special note is the compilation wheel, used by 17th-century scribes to compile texts. The scribe would place various texts that he needed to copy from on the wheel, which functioned as a kind of rotating shelf. A planetary mechanism inside ensured that the books were always held at the same angle, even as they spun around.
Strahov also contains a beautiful cabinet of curiosities, brought to the monastery from the estate of Karel Jan Erben in 1798. The hall of cabinets include bits of a dodo bird, a large 18th-century electrostatic device, numerous old ocean specimens, insects, minerals, anthropological artifacts, and for unclear reasons, many glass cases full of wax fruit.