Chapel of Saint Wenceslaus in Kudlov

Circumstances of the Creation of the Kudlov Chapel
The village of Kudlov, now part of Zlín, is situated in hilly terrain about two kilometers south of Zlín. It has the character of a street village with a disorganized structure similar to cottage villages, concentrating settlement around a passing road. Kudlov is thus a typical village from the mountainous surroundings of Zlín and nearby Wallachia.
The citizens of the village of Kudlov had long desired a sanctuary in their village, but their wish was fulfilled only in the late 1920s. The municipal treasury had been empty for an extended period, and this desire could only be realized with significant contributions from local citizens. Even so, the construction was probably not organized by the local administration led by Mayor Josef Lapčík, but rather, this initiative arose from the community. Several years prior to the chapel's construction, collections had circulated in neighboring villages, but it was the donation of 600 K from the couple Anna and Josef Procházka that established a foundation with the intention of building the chapel. The cooperation of the local citizens was remarkable. The couple Aloisie and Rudolf Vavruš donated the construction land. Among the citizens of the village was also architect František Lydie Gahura, an architect from the Baťa company, who prepared the plans and budgets for the chapel free of charge. The main building material was bricks from a Zlín brickyard, of which the Baťa company donated 16,000 for the construction. The mayor of Prštné, Ignác Šťasta, donated the sand needed for the construction and the owners of surrounding forests provided wood for the chapel's construction. All materials were transported to the construction site by local residents, and the project was entrusted to the Zlín builder Josef Jarcovják. The chapel's construction lasted less than a year and was completed with the installation of a bell from an old bell tower. The total costs reached 30,000 CZK, excluding donated materials. The chapel was ceremonially consecrated on September 22, 1929, by Msgr. Antonín Kobliha, the parish priest at the Cathedral in Olomouc, with Mrs. Marie Baťová, the wife of Tomáš Baťa, serving as the godmother. The chapel's patronage to St. Wenceslas was likely chosen because of the upcoming grand anniversary of 1,000 years since the martyrdom of St. Wenceslas in 1929.

Chapel of St. Wenceslas
The Chapel of St. Wenceslas is located about halfway through the village of Kudlov, next to the main road from Zlín, and is oriented with its front risalit facing the road, slightly turned toward Zlín. The land on which the chapel stands is only slightly larger than the building itself. On the left side of the chapel, there stands a stone cross with the crucified Christ, which was moved here from another part of the village. The building is surrounded on the sides by several tall thuja trees, which slightly overshadow the chapel, along with several other deciduous trees. The land is terraced and bordered by a concrete wall, from which an iron fence extends. The front side features a gate, and the entire fence is made of iron parallel columns, which at the top are vertically spanned by two iron rods, from which the vertical columns are densely divided and ended with another perpendicular rod. The remaining parts of the fence consist of continuous, bulkier steel columns filled with mesh. From the gate, a wide concrete staircase unfolds towards the chapel, stretching along the entire length of the front risalit. The steps are bordered on the sides by higher walls rising parallel to the staircase, which has a gentle slope and consists of seven steps. This staircase inviting visitors to the chapel ends with a platform leading to the chapel, which is sheltered by a concrete console extending from the middle of the front facade. The console covers the entire platform in front of the chapel. The building is located slightly above the surrounding terrain and is founded on concrete foundations, which rise above the ground, transitioning into a low pedestal. This pedestal also serves as the foundational substrate for the staircase. The pedestal is made of local sandstone.
The ground plan of the building is a Greek cross. The load-bearing structure consists of massive brick pillars in the shape of the letter L, finished with a reinforced concrete cornice, forming a sort of architrave for the building. The chapel is topped with a flat roof covered with metal sheeting. The space between the pillars is filled with brickwork, which significantly retreats from the pillars inward toward the chapel. The infill walls feature a trio of slender parallel windows on each of the four sides, set in simple iron frames, which horizontally divide the interior area of the windows into three parts. The windows are wide to the length of one brick and arched with a classic straight brick lintel, a construction method possible due to the small width of the windows. These window openings, filled with wire glass, have a sill and a lintel about thirty centimeters above the plinth or ceiling structure. The windows are framed by projectively outward protruding lesenes, made of bricks turned perpendicularly from the wall with their shorter side. These lesenes extend from the plinth up to the exposed reinforced concrete cornice.
The front risalit, like the other risalits, is divided into three axes of window openings, but in the center, it is pierced by a door, above which a relatively long concrete console extends across the entire width, covering the entrance platform of the chapel. The console is supported at about the midpoint of its length by two iron columns. Centrally located wooden doors have a narrow opening filled with glass in the center, corresponding in size to the adjacent window above the doors and the side window openings. The doors of the chapel are fitted with a simple metal grille, predominantly composed of vertical elements, and at the top, there is a simple stylized wrought-iron cross. The upper parts of the side windows under the console are fitted with colored glass. This simple stained glass is defined by a square grid, which is further divided into nine smaller square sections. The corner sections are filled with tinted yellow glass, so the area in the middle, filled with white clear glass, forms a Greek cross, corresponding to the outline of the building. In the upper half of the main risalit, three identical windows appear, continuing from the lower part under the console and repeating on the other risalits of the building. The inner sides of the outer windows are framed more robustly with wider lesenes, transforming them into a sort of pillar. This transitions from the upper part downward, where it forms a massive architrave for the entrance doors. The left pillar connecting to the main risalit rises high above the roof's surface, transitioning into a bell tower. At the top of the pillar is a rectangular opening finished with a reinforced concrete lintel covered with metal sheeting, where the bell is situated. In the middle of the bell tower's roof, an iron cross is attached.
Both side elevations are identical, and the infill walls between the pillars are rhythmically accentuated by three tall windows, while the windows on the rear side are shortened by one third due to the placement of the altar inside. The flat roof of the building has a gentle slope and is protected by metal sheeting. The roof is hidden behind the reinforced concrete cornice of the building, which transitions into a low attic. At the rear, a small wooden structure with a slanted shed roof is attached to the building, serving as a storage space and for liturgical needs for funerals that were previously held in the chapel.
The aforementioned annex is concealed by the side wings of the chapel, making it difficult to perceive from the street.
Upon entering the interior of the chapel, we are greeted by the central space dominated by a stone altar with a statue of the saint. The dominant feature of the interior is the windows, framed by projectively protruding lesenes, which extend from the floor to the flat ceiling, which is without any divisions. From each of the four main pillars extends about eye level two square bases, on which small sculptures of saints are placed. At the same height, a Stations of the Cross is situated around the perimeter of the chapel.
The altar is made of stone, divided into the altar table and a prism with the tabernacle, on which the statue of the saint stands. The altar table is made of granite, and the frontal tomb is vertically divided by massively protruding lesenes into three parts. From the center protrudes a sandstone prism, whose lower part forms the tabernacle covered with brass doors featuring bas-relief decorations. The central motif of these decorations is the sacrificial lamb standing on the mensa, a symbol of Christ, and above it, a cross slightly entwined with a ribbon. Beneath the sacrificial mensa is a wheat ear. Above the tabernacle, the sandstone mass of the prism is profiled into the shape of a cross, with a stylized brass sculpture of Christ on it. On each side of the prism with the tabernacle, there are three brass candlesticks from each side, and on the prism stands the statue of St. Wenceslas, to whom the building is dedicated, approximately one meter tall. The interior furnishings are adapted for the occasional holding of holy masses. Towards the altar, there are three rows of pews, with small organs placed to the left of the entrance. The lighting of the chapel is provided by a centrally suspended chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Surprisingly, the building has survived the entire twentieth century in an undamaged state. It is thus preserved in complete authenticity both in its exterior and interior; it was slightly repaired in 1990. Missing bricks were replaced with new ones or substituted with brick bands, the building was further coated with a water-resistant paint, the wire glass in the windows was replaced with new, and ten years later, manual ringing was replaced with motorized operation.