We began our second day in Olomouc by walking to the Archdiocesan Museum. Paul the Navigator led the way.
On our way to the Archdiocesan Museum we saw the Saint Wenceslas Cathedral, which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olomouc.
Dedicated to the patron saint of St. Wenceslas, the church was founded between 1104 and 1107 by Svatopluk, the Slovak prince of Olomouc. The cathedral began in the Romanesque style, but extensive Gothic modifications were made in 13th and 14th Centuries.
We had some time to go inside and take a look.
After some time in the cathedral, we had a metaphysical meeting outside. We also celebrated Ari’s Czech name day — Felix!
Happy Name Day, Felix!
Then we went inside the Archdiocesan Museum.
Founded in 1998 as a joint project of the Roman Catholic Church and the Czech State, the museum creates a space for the research, preservation, and presentation of ecclesiastical art culture of a church origin from the historical territory of the Olomouc Archdiocese.
Currently, the museum offers visitors two permanent exhibitions.
A selection of the most valuable and significant of the preserved artistic wealth of the Olomouc Archdiocese can be found in “In Glory and Praise: A Thousand Years of Spiritual Culture in Moravia.”
The history of the museum grounds and its immediate surroundings from the earliest prehistoric settlement to the present day is the subject of the second permanent exhibition, “You Are Here: St. Wenceslas Mound over the Course of the Centuries.”
Here we see Ari and Sophie participating in a casual archaeological dig.
Here Olivia is sketching the ceremonial carriage of Bishop Ferdinand Julius Troyer. The three-tonne carriage, which with its six horses reached sixteen metres in length, was purchased by Bishop Troyer in 1746 in Vienna. The carriage cabin is decorated with paintings of the four elements represented by ancient gods.
After some time in the museum, we made our way to the Olomouc Upper Square.
Here we are in front of the Olomouc Astronomical Clock, which is situated in the northern facade of the Town Hall. We made it in time to see the clock perform at 12pm.
From the Tourism Olomouc website:
“Set into a 14m high pointed-arched recess, the present-day appearance of the Clock dates back to the 50s of the 20th Century and bears the traces of the former official aesthetic of socialist realism. The mosaic decoration of the Clock is made of various portrayals on the lateral sides of the recess depicting characteristic work for each month of the year. The author of the design, Karel Svolinský, introduced the folklore motif of the Ride of the Kings at the top of the recess. Figures representing the different working classes are depicted in the lower part of the mosaic decoration.”
We also saw the famous Olomouc Plague Tower.
From the #VisitCzechia website: “The story of the column in Olomouc is an unsettled one. The stimulus for its construction was one of the most extreme bouts of the plague which hit Moravia at the start of the 18th century. Although the city already had one plague column at that time, the citizens thought it was not spectacular enough. Once it was finished, the Holy Trinity Column immediately became a source of immeasurable pride for the people of Olomouc, who already at that time uncovered its unique nature and artistic value. Their love for this work was so great that when the city was under siege, they set out to plead with the Prussian general to tell his soldiers not to shoot at their column. The liberal general accommodated their wishes and so you can feast your eyes on the original beauty of this place to this very day.”
Then we wandered over to the Olomoucká želva (Olomouc turtle). It is said that all those who rub the dolphin on the turtle’s head will return to Olomouc.
The rest of the day was open for us to explore the city and return to any of the museums that we had already visited. I ran into Ari, Kyrstyn, and Brianna at the Olomouc Museum of Art.
I also received word that Sophie had indeed made it to Miss Sophie’s Cafe.
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