45 years ago, the transfer of the church in Most began, moving it 841.1 meters

Prague - The relocation of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most, which began 45 years ago on September 30, 1975, still finds it hard to draw comparisons. The late Gothic temple thus avoided the fate of other buildings in the North Bohemian city, which were slated for demolition due to brown coal supplies. The demanding operation required not only careful preparation and planning but also a lot of money. Initially, several options for saving the monument were considered. Ultimately, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the relocation of the church to a new site won, which was completed on October 27, 1975.

However, no one in Czechoslovakia had experience with moving such a large structure, so finding a suitable technical solution took several years. The usual method of moving buildings using rollers moving on a solid foundation was abandoned in favor of a method that utilized a flexible track and carts capable of leveling out uneven terrain. The interior fittings were removed from the temple, the church tower was taken down, and the walls were reinforced. In mid-September 1975, the church with its underground crypt was then separated from its foundations and loaded onto 53 chassis from Plzeň's Škodovka.

The structure, built from 1517 to 1550, was moved 841.1 meters to its new location after 27 days. However, it took another 13 years before the stabilization and restoration work was completed, after which the church was made accessible. In the spirit of the normalization era, it was supposed to serve only as an exhibition or concert hall. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary could return to its original purpose only after November 1989. The church was re-consecrated in June 1993, and since February 2010, it has been listed as a cultural monument.