17. - 18. století
Johann Blasius Santini-Aichel
Genius in the field of Baroque architecture
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He was the most significant and the most original representative of High Baroque architecture in Bohemia. He was schooled as a painter, but dedicated himself to architecture since 1700. He worked for old ecclesiastical orders, in particular for the Cistercians, for whom he restored and completed ruins of Gothic churches in a quite original way. He managed to transform Gothic elements and give them a purely Baroque form, creating a
highly expressive Baroque style that was unequalled in Europe. Apart from his famous work on palaces and churches in the Nerudova street in Prague, Santini primarily created the peculiar pilgrimage chapel St Jan Nepomucky (1722) on Zelena Hora near Zdar nad Sazavou. The chapel’s layout is that of a five-point star – the symbol of this particular saint. Thanks to its uniqueness, the chapel was listed a UNESCO world heritage site.
