The valuable church in Moravská Třebová is getting a new shingle roof covering

Moravská Třebová – In Moravská Třebová in the Svitavy region, repairs of the Renaissance church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross are ongoing, with workers now laying a new shingle roof. The historic building from 1603 has been owned by the city since the beginning of 2024. The Pardubice Region contributed, in addition to the roof, to a construction-historical survey, restoration of an oil painting on canvas depicting the Death of St. Joseph, and the treatment of interiors and furnishings, as stated in a press release.

The church, located in the area on Křížový Hill, along with a collection of Renaissance gravestones and wooden polychrome pews from 1630, represents one of the most valuable historical monuments of its kind in Moravia. The city acquired the property from the Roman Catholic parish with the aim of saving it for future generations and making it accessible to the public.

The gradual restoration includes not only roof construction work but also restoration interventions in the interior, where there are valuable Baroque frescoes and a wooden gallery with painted Passion scenes. The Baroque painter Jude Thaddeus Supper painted the altar directly on the wall in the form of a fresco. He created an optical illusion, where the painted structure, columns, and medallions appear to be three-dimensional like a real altar on the wall. Another interesting feature is the church tabernacle, a container for consecrated hosts for the Eucharist. It has the shape of a sphere, with the remnants of a cross on top, which was part of the entire scene and which, along with the sphere, forms the symbolism of the imperial apple. The doors depict the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Renaissance cemetery church was built between 1603 and 1605 on the site of an older Gothic structure from 1505, and the builder was Andreas Balzer from Silesian Nysa. The church pews date from 1632 and were marked with painted guild symbols for guild members. The original organ from 1682 was replaced in 1877 by an organ from the Rieger company from Krnov. The bells in the church tower were cast by the local metalworker Jan Wágner. At the entrance to the church stands a stone cross from 1753, authored by the stonemason Sommer from Maletín.

On the exterior of the church, there are Renaissance stone tombstones of significant townspeople and personalities of Moravská Třebová. Additional valuable tombstones are found in the cemetery and in the lapidarium established from the former mortuary. The so-called Dead Man's Steps with a Renaissance portal from 1575 led from the town to the cemetery. At the top of Křížový Hill stands the Calvary monument by the local sculptor Jiří Pacák, who was a student of Matyáš Braun.