St. Prokopius Basilica

The oldest part of the monastery is St. Procopius’ Basilica, which was built from the local stone – a coarse-grained grey granite. The building is an interesting combination of style blending, without comparison  in  Czech art. The basilica was built in the first half of the 13^th century, when it was affected by the continuing imperial tradition of the Romanesque style and the emerging progressive Gothic. An illustrative example can be the House of St. Peter in Worms from years 1210 to 1230, in which we should look for models for the church at Třebíč. The basilica was modified through the rescuedGothicised reconstructions in the baroque-gothic style during the first half of the 18^th century and neo-gothic in the second half of the 19^th century.  The repair work was to save the building while not damaging its inherent character.

The church can be described as a three-nave basilica vaulted by the string dome in the west with the tower in the lead with its frontage  and perforated shield, ending in the east in a trilateral closure with perforated round windows and two apses. The dwarf gallery follows the stretch of the windows at the end of the chancel. The northern outer hallway, which is arched by a seven-ribbed vault, previously served as a ceremonial entrance to the church. The concession portal decorated by the plant ruins and 4 figures (probably of the Evangelists) separates the northern outer hallway from the inner hall. The main nave is separated from the chancel by a triumph arch with the inscription: HONOR Dei Beatae Virginis Mariae et ex profanatis ruderibus restituit Josephus Joannes de Waldstein SRI comes Anno 17303 (To the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, restored from the desecrated ruins by Jan Josef of Valdštejn, Earl of the Holy Roman Empire). The chancel is vaulted by three fields of eight-piece baroque gothic arches. The same author, Franz Maximilian Kanka, is the creator of the western towered frontage and the perforated shield.

In the southern apse there is a fresco cycle of the legends about St. John the Evangelist; these being the second oldest wall paintings in Moravia. A style analysis of the frescoes and the church architecture allows one to date the church’s construction as  between the years 1220 and 1260. St. Procopius' Basilica is the longest Moravian church; and the crypt with 50 columns and half-columns under the chancel is open to the public during the course of a guided tour.

The area of the former Benedictine monastery with its three-nave basilica is one of the most visited monuments in Vysočina.