In Žďár, they commemorated the birth of architect Jan Santini

Žďár nad Sázavou - In the conventual church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary at the Radslava Kinský Castle in Žďár nad Sázavou, people today commemorated the 330th anniversary of the birth of architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl. Santini is, among many other buildings, the author of the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk at Green Mountain, which is listed on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
    Santini's significance was highlighted by perhaps the greatest expert on his work, Mojmír Horyna, prorector of Charles University, and organ music was performed by Václav Horák.
    Santini was born on February 4, 1677, in Prague near the St. Vitus Cathedral, where his father worked on its completion. He honed his artistic talent while studying painting and architecture.
    Fate allocated Santini merely two decades of creative work. Around the year 1700, he was called to Žďár by the enlightened and art-loving abbot of the Cistercian monastery, Václav Vejmluva. "Žďár became the focal point of his work," said Stanislav Růžička, the organizer of today's celebrations, to ČTK. However, Santini's buildings can be found in many places. For example, his Baroque-Gothic reconstruction of the monastery church in Sedlec, the pilgrimage church in Křtiny near Brno, or the Benedictine monastery church in Kladruby near Stříbro are well-known.
    In Žďár, Santini (1677 to 1723) built one of his masterpieces, the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk at Green Mountain, which is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The foundation stone of the pilgrimage church was laid in 1720, and it was consecrated two years later. The church has a five-pointed star floor plan, which appears in various forms in the exterior and interior of the pilgrimage complex in the spirit of intricate symbolism related to Saint John. At the time, it represented a work that was timeless with a refined treatment of light.