We traveled less than an hour away from Třebíč to Zelená Hora just outside Žďár nad Sázavou. This is the site of another UNESCO World Heritage site – the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk. The church is built on Zelená Hora which means “green hill”. The hill overlooks the nearby Sázava River which makes it a great location for a pilgrimage church. The church is the best known work of Johann Santini Aichel. The church is a mix of gothic and baroque which is reflective of the time which this church was built. Saint John of Nepomuk wasn’t born here in this town, but he did have his early education here. Saint John of Nepomuk was most probably executed because of his support for the pope, whom the king Wenceslaus IV didn’t support. John of Nepomuk was then declared blessed and thus the construction of this church began.

As you can see the church is built on top of a hill which actually gives some interesting flexibility on the design of the church. Johann Santini Aichel decided to build a church with a unique layout. The main central church, the one with the green spire would be in the center of the entire place. This is where the design differs from conventional church designs of the time. The cloister would surround the central church. Usually cloisters would be built beside the church, this one though was built around it. A major component of the design of the church is the fact that it uses the number five a lot. Five represents the number of stars which images of Saint John of Nepomuk usually has. The church has five chapels. Even the cloister itself is related to the number five. The entire cloister has ten concave sides. This makes the church look identical whichever angle you look it from.

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