The history and description of the monastery

According to the legend duke Břetislav had a chaple built in Pivoň in 1040 in memory of his victory over the emperor Henry III. In the following years a convent was established in its place by the bishop Severin and endowed with woods and meadows.The convent church was consecrated in 1407 by the bishop. The charter of incorporation of this first Augustine monastery in Bohemia was, nevertheless, destroyed and thus the first written mention about the convent dates back to 1379. In the second half of the 17th century a new baroque refectory was built and the monastery church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary was also adapted in baroque style.The current shape of the convent is the result of a more extensive baroque recosntruction from the year 1733 and of later adaptations. The convent was closed by the emperor Joseph II in 1787. In 1800 the monastery became the property of Prague attorney Leopold Stohr in auction and later was turned into a four-wing château. In 1843 the former convent was purchased by the Thun-Hohensteins and in 1863 the farm Pivoň became the property of the earl Franz Coudenhove who connected it with Poběžovice.

The monastery after the baroque reconstruction 1750

The oldest preserved photo of the monastery from the end of the 19th cent.

In 1918 Czech minority school and the police station with some appartments for clerks were placed in the convent. After 1945 when the compound was used by the army and single agricultural cooperative it was vastly devastated which damage was enhanced by the fire in 1953. In the same year the statics of the walls was secured. However, a more extensive reparation took place only at the end of the 70ies when new roof was built and the tower was repaired. Further vital works were started by the villagec ouncil who received the monastery into ownership in 1989, later the association Aurelius and then the current owner. In November 2022, effective from 1st July 2023 the monastery compound became a National cultural heritage site.

Revitalisation of the monastery

The devastated cloister was purchased from the village by the association Aurelius in 2002 who innitiated the challenging reconstruction. Two wings were establised in the cloister at that time, the statics of the buildings was disrupted, the vaults were caved-in. Aurelius had ferroconcrete walls built, roof frames changed, roofs made, the fallen Northern wing completed and others. The current owner continues in the rennovation, all compound has been cleared of self-seedings, drainage has been made, in the Northern wing there are new windows, interior stuccos, chimneys and facade. The building permit for the next stage of the reconstruction of the compound is valid. The most valuable part of the cloister is the early-gothic presbytary of the church of the Annunciation of Virgin Mary which is considered at the moment our oldest known purely gothic building. After the fire only the perimeter walls of the nave remained. Today the church has a new roof. Visualisation of the church restoration:

In the preceding years a study was prepared for the cloister rerstoration which includes the completion of the buildings, according to the original disposition /disposition after baroque extension from the year 1733)- the completion concerns the Northern and Western wings of the farming part which creates a closed area in front of the main convent. Potential use of the compound: – Senior house (Pivoň is located a few kilometres from the German border) – Medical and rehabilitation establishment (The originally planned use of the association Aurelius) – Cultural centre – Hotel