Church of St. Lawrence

The parish church of St. Lawrence was built in the Neo-Gothic style as a three-nave building with an entrance and tower topped by a steeple in the front, and a transept and a hexagonal presbytery, on a ground plan based on a Gothic cathedral. It was designed by architect Simon Tragl of Prague. The construction works were carried out by the builder Eduard Zirm of Vrchlabi. The main space of the church is a three-nave hall, 30 m long and 18 m wide, to which a 60-m tall tower with a polygonal steeple and corner turrets is attached on the western side where the entrance is.

The church organ with its richly decorated wooden case was manufactured by the Rieger brethren in 1889, their 240th piece. It underwent renewal in 2006–2007, financed from a public fundraising campaign. The organ now features twenty-two stops and two manuals, and includes a mechanical tracker action and almost 1,300 pipes.

The copper baptismal font, dating back to 1566, is the oldest item in the church now. It was in use already in the previous church that was demolished. It is now located in a font carved by the master stonemason of Vrchlabi, Eduard Wlaciha, in marble from the quarry below Hribeci chalet. 

On the right-hand side of the transept is an altar with a painting of St. Lawrence, the patron of the old and new church. It was created by the renowned painter Vilem Kandler of Prague in 1877, and was part of the high altar of the old church until 1886.

Three new bells, cast by the bellfounder P. R. Manousek in 2002, now hang in the steeple. They are St. Lawrence (652 kg), St. Anne (376 kg), and St. Wenceslaus (246 kg). Money for the bells was obtained through a public fundraising campaign, from the B. J. Horacek Foundation for the Bohemian Paradise, and from Milan Zdenek.

Visit the Church of St. Lawrence

The church is open almost every day in the summer holidays. In other months, the interior of the church can be seen through a glazed door.

It can also be visited half an hour before every mass. Mass is held in the church every Sunday and, except for winter months, also on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The Plague Column and the Statue of the Virgin Mary

Except for a smaller part of the statue of the Virgin Mary, today’s Plague Column is a copy of the original column from 1696, which was built by Jan Rudolf of Morzin and his wife, Eva Konstanzia, the landlords of the Vrchlabi manor, as protection against the plague.