The Marian monument in Týnice wants to complete the cloister according to Santini's vision

Mariánská Týnice (Plzeň Region) - A unique project in Europe is being prepared by the baroque monument in Mariánská Týnice in the Plzeň region. The region and its museum, located in the former provostry, want to complete a part of the former pilgrimage area according to the original design of the builder Jan Blažej Santini after three centuries. The monument is applying for a grant from the Integrated Operational Program for the completion of the eastern ambulatory, said Irena Bukačová, director of the Museum and Gallery of Northern Plzeň.

"The project is a very ambitious matter. It originally arose from the fact that the unfinished area needs to be closed," she said. Santini's original plans included that the entire area would have four parts - a church, provostry, and two ambulatories. However, according to Bukačová, the eastern ambulatory was only started, leaving the remains of two chapels. The area needs to be closed for aesthetic and safety reasons, according to her.

The dominant structure in the fields about 40 kilometers north of Plzeň has a troubled past. The provostry began to be built in 1711 according to Santini's project of the monastery in Plasy. Mariánská Týnice was meant to serve as a pilgrimage site. However, in the 19th century, it began to decay and fall apart. Since the 1950s, the area has housed a museum. Extensive rescue and restoration actions have been taking place for roughly the last 20 years, during which, according to Bukačová, over 35 million crowns have been spent on it.

"The ambulatories served as a place for pilgrims to hide, to confess. It was a covered place where many pilgrims came, and when they weren't there, the ambulatories served as a kind of meditation garden for the monks," she described. The area has the advantage of having preserved its original architectural concept, with no later additions. The museum completed one of the originally planned chapels three years ago. Current projects have passed through the heritage council of the National Heritage Institute.

The region, as the owner of the property and the founder of the museum, agreed to submit an application and to pre-finance the costs, which are preliminarily estimated at over 52 million crowns. According to plans, construction of the southeastern chapel and the ambulatory wing with a gate should begin next year. By 2020, the construction of the entire eastern ambulatory wing is to be completed.