- CESKÝ KRUMLOV Part 3 -

Minorite Monastery

LINKS to other pages in the Ceský Krumlov site and to the Colin Day Travelling Days series:

The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders also known as the Orders of Friars Minor. The official Latin name of the Orders of Friars Minor is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum. St. Francis thus referred to his followers as "Fraticelli", meaning "Little Brothers". Franciscan brothers are informally called 'Friars' or 'Minorites'.

The Minorite Monastery area is entered through a Baroque gate from Monastery Street in the main part of the town. Behind the gate is a courtyard called Tramín from which one can access all parts of the area - to the Body of Christ Church, to a bigger building which is the Minorite Monastery, to a smaller building adjacent to it, the so-called Beguine Convent, and to the monastery garden.

The construction of the monastery started after its foundation in the mid-14th century. Building of the Body of Christ Temple was started early in the 14th century, but the monks cloister was apparently not finished until one and a half centuries later. The St Wolfgang Chapel was consecrated in 1491.

Other buildings in the complex have been converted into a museum and art gallery.