Františkánský klášter / Franciscan Monastery - Kadan (North-West Bohemia) - Abbeys, Convents and Monasteries on Waymarking.com

The Complex of the former Franciscan Monastery of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (Františkánský klášter Ctrnácti Svatých pomocníku) in Kadan is without any doubts the cultural, historic and architectural monument of the first category.

The former Franciscan Monastery of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, which history dates back to the 15th century, is located on the borders of Kadan above the river Ohre. Nowadays it is the seat of the Municipal Museum of Kadan with several expositions (the exposition devoted to the Franciscan conventual life, expostion about history and monuments of the town Kadan, geological and mining exposition etc.). The church dedication to Fourteen Holy Helpers shows the contacts to then popular German shrines of the same cult. Around the building is a beautiful vineyard, a French park and a lot of plum trees. The monastery was ranked among the National cultural monuments by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1995. The monastery faces the Úhošt hill on the opposite slope of the Ohre valley.

The first building on the site of the present-day Franciscan Monastery in Kadan was a moderate holy shrine first mentioned in 1469. At Easter 1473 Franciscan Order assumed the shrine and with the support of Kadan inhabitants and the House of Vitzhum built a temporary Convent house around it with the view of building a stone monastery. The Order experienced bloom and expansion in Bohemia particularly after the visit of Saint John Capistran. The monastery was built in several periods between 1473 and 1500. The sanctuary of the church with the quadripartite rib vault was built first and it was dedicated by Hierapolitan bishop and auxiliary bishop of Regensburg Johann Ludwig in 1480. The three-aisled nave with sexpartite rib vault was finished in 1493 and dedicated by bishop of Kamien Pomorski Benedikt of Valdštejn. All the monastery was probably completed by 1500. The walls of the church were decorated with abundant Gothic and Renaissance paintings that are now being restored. The first presumptions show affinity to Lucas Cranach school.

In 1481 the monastery was handed over to the Jan Hasištejnský z Lobkovic. Its development reached the peak in 1522 when the provincial Franciscan school was established. However, the monastery was abolished in 1564 in connection with the stormy spread of Lutheranism in the area. It was soon reestablihed by Jirí Popel z Lobkovic but was corrupted again after the 1618 uprising.

The revival did not come until the second half of the 17th century when the buildings were renovated and the church received new furniture and fixtures. The 18th century brought several unfavourable events. French soldiers of the anti-Habsburg coalition used the church as their shelter while withdrawing after they had been driven from Prague by the army of Maria Theresia in 1742. The church became a witness to a bloody exchange of gunfire. The riddled Baroque door still evokes those moments.

The monastery survived abolition during Emperor Joseph II's reforms by a hair's breadth. The number of monks was, however, limited from 63 to 12. During World War II the Franciscans had to surrender half of their monastery to the Wehrmacht for Hitlerjugend needs. Communists closed the monastery in 1950 and it was used as a record office's depositary and got dilapidated due to insufficient maintenance. In 1991 the monastery was given back to Franciscans but they passed it over to the favour of Litomerice diocese in 1994. The diocesan officials entered into the agreement with the Municipal Office to lease the monastery to the town of Kadan. The has been giving means to reconstruct the valuable interior and wall frescos. In 1999 the newer parts of the buildings were dedicated to the Elementary Music, Dancing and Fine Arts School and a permanent exhibition of mining was opened in the cellars. The Municipal Museum was inaugurated in May 2004.

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