Augustinian monastery

The Augustinian monastery in Vrchlabi was established in 1705 following an initiative by the House of Morzin. The construction works took quite some time and the monastery was not completed until 1725. The works were launched by Maxmilian Morzin, having appointed Adam Auer of Austria as the head architect and builder. When Maxmilian Morzin died unexpectedly in 1706, supervision over the building, as well as the whole Morzin heritage, passed to the hands of his brother, Vaclav. Thanks to him, the works were completed in 1725 and the church, dedicated to St. Augustine, was consecrated by the Hradec Kralove Bishop, Mauricius Adolf Karel of Pharsal, on 27 September 1733.

The Church of St. Augustine was built in the Baroque style, with only the high altar showing more features of the Rococo style. The interior furnishings of the church, together with the architecture and the inner composition of the church nave, create an extraordinarily harmonic whole in a unified style which evokes emotion. 

The monastery features a valuable organ from 1898 manufactured by the renowned Rieger company of Krnov. The high altar, 19 m in height, has a motif of St. Augustine, to whom the church is dedicated, painted by Franz Dalliger of Prague. The most valuable art work is the altar of the Holy Cross on the right-hand side of the presbytery, probably made by Jan Frantisek Pacak, who was an assistant to the renowned sculptor and carver Matthias Bernard Braun. The remarkable ceiling paintings were created by Ignatz and Gottfried Tauchmann of Vrchlabi.

The residential premises of the monastery now house a Krkonose Museum exhibition on the nature and history of the region, and the arcaded walkway is frequently used for various exhibitions. The church is often used as a concert hall due to its great acoustics.

The Church of St. Augustine is now included in the guided tours of Vrchlabi

You can see Vrchlabi’s most interesting monuments which are otherwise usually inaccessible. Groups of 2 to 20 people can enjoy the tour every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer holidays. The route begins at the Regional Information Centre at the townhall on the main square. Outside the summer holidays, these tours are only available for groups upon prior arrangement. In the summer holidays it is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.