St Bartholomew's Cathedral Pilsen

St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Pilsen is a cathedral that was built in 1322 and immediately transferred to the spiritual administration of the Teutonic Order. Here is the shrine of the cathedral and the object of pilgrimage - the statue of the Pilsen Virgin Mary. Here, in 1993, the diocese of Pilsen was established, and the church received the status of a cathedral.

The Cathedral of St. Bartholomew stands in the center of the historical part of Pilsen, on Republic Square and is a building of a pronounced, Gothic style. The construction of the cathedral was started simultaneously with the birth of the city by Wenceslas II, in 1295. The pearl of the temple was the Sternber chapel of the late Gothic style, attached to the southern side of the presbytery in the early XVI century. It was built as a family tomb of representatives of the Sternberk family - political allies of Pilsen, who lived in the castle of Green Mountain in Nepomuk.

The presbytery itself, built in the thirties of the XIV century, is the oldest part of the temple preserved in its original form. In 1476, a three-nave hall was built and the interior of the temple reached its current size. Also notable is the 102.26-meter tall cathedral tower, which at the time of its creation was the second highest structure, and still makes St. Bartholomew's Cathedral the highest religious building in Bohemia.

Reconstruction, carried out by architect Josef Motzker in 1883, added another attraction to the cathedral - this is the main altar of the neo-Gothic, with a sculpture of the Virgin Mary installed in the niche. The sculpture was made by their sandy marl, by the hands of an unknown master. The temple has 33 altars.