St. John´s Foundation
Svaty
Jan pod Skalou (Saint John under Cliff) belongs together with the
memorable castle Karlstein and
the ancient Tetin Castle (the old strength of Czech rulers) to a trio of
the most significant historical places West of Prague. The village with its more
than one thousand year old history was kept secret during the communist regime
as the former Benedictine’s cloister served since the 1950s as a forced labor
camp and a jail for citizens who resisted the totalitarian regime. Later, it
also functioned as a special school for StB senior officers, feared guards of
totalitarianism (the analogy to Soviet KGB). The name Saint John under
Cliff was even for secrecy reasons erased from maps. Its cultural treasures
began to decay and in 1989 all the historical buildings were in a dismal state.
However, it was financially impossible for such a very small municipality with
only 71 inhabitants, that in 1989 lived in St. John, to rescue these sights or
at least to prevent their further damage and decay.
This was the reason why the local patriots founded in
1991 the St. John Foundation, nowadays called the St. John Society. The
Foundation has worked successfully in the area cultural activities and
restorations of local monuments from its very beginning. Thanks to its existence
and the effort of local authorities, over 230 000 EUR (6 million
Czech Crowns) has been invested in salvation of local historical heritage.
Several historical sights that have already been successfully saved and repaired
prove this fact. The most important undertaking was the general overhaul of the
renaissance Chapel of the Holy Cross, the general overhaul of the exterior of
the baroque Church of St. John Baptist with its tower, and the challenging
securing of its static stability. The next things to be repaired are the very
precious baroque Marian sculptural group, the richly decorated interior of this
church, mainly its ceiling and old precious organ.
The most important reward for all these efforts of the municipality until now,
that were supported considerably by the St. John Foundations, was the award
given to St. John under Cliff in 1999. Thus it became the third best-rated
village in the whole Czech Republic. In the following texts and pictures you
may find out what a grand masterpiece has been achieved thanks to donations of
thousands of supporters and friends during the past years.
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| The
Church in 1991 – before the renovation |
The
baroque Church of St. John Baptist |
The
Church spire before the renovation
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The Church spire |
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| The two new church bells | Renovated
baroque lattices in the Ivan´s Cave. |
Renovated
statue of St. Ivan |
Chapel of
The Elevation of the Holy Cross after the general overhaul
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| General
overhaul of the Chapel of the Holy Cross |
The
spring
of St. Ivan |
The
renewed memorable Cross in the fields |
The
new stone pavement infront of the Church |
Bank
connection: Account No. at KB Beroun
27-538
397 0217/ 0100
you can come to see St. John under the Cliff yourself in person
Some sights have still been waiting for our help:
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| Badly
damaged ceiling of the Church |
The general overhaul of the precious renaissance organ |
Dozens of demaged pictures and statues in the Church |
Rescue of the baroque St. Mary´s Statuary |
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| The repair and static securing of the Park wall |
The exterier overhaul of the former Monastery premises |
The general overhaul of the old former presbytery |
The general overhaul of the staircase and the roof of the Maxmilian´s Chapel |
Adress:
Svatý Jan pod Skalou 11, 266
01 – BEROUN
e-mail sjs@svatyjan.cz
telefon – (+420) 311 672 657 fax – (+420) 311 672 115