The canonry continues the restoration of the monastery in Nová Říše; this year, the Rajský Dvůr will also be addressed

Nová Říše - The Premonstratensian Canonry continues the restoration of the monastery in Nová Říše in the Jihlava region. This year, it will also modify the Paradise Courtyard and the garden of the great courtyard, which spatially connect to each other. The Paradise Courtyard will primarily serve the local community for contemplation, while the garden with lawns, roses, and lavender will also be accessible to visitors of the monastery. This was announced by the director of the canonry administration, Marcela Lorencová. According to the public procurement bulletin, the modification of these monastery gardens will cost almost 2.8 million crowns excluding tax.

This is the final part of a large project funded by the European IROP program. "This project has already realized most of its activities, including the revitalization of the old cemetery garden," stated the director of the canonry administration. She added that the proposal for the restoration of the Paradise Courtyard was adjusted based on insights gained from a detailed archaeological survey. Stone elements will be added, and there will also be a small stream with a fountain.

The garden of the Paradise Courtyard will primarily serve the community of the monastery. "This garden will regain its function, which is a space for contemplation," Lorencová stated. There will be no regular tours there; visitors will only enter this garden during special events. They will view it through windows, as the tour route leads through a cloister. In the garden of the great courtyard, incoming guests will be able to spend time there, for example, before the tour.

In 2020, the monastery introduced a modified tour route with a treasury, in which it displayed preserved valuable liturgical objects. The funded project also included the restoration of the organ, among other things.

Investments in the Nová Říše monastery continue. "Last year, we tried to build on the repairs that had been planned in previous years and were technically fully or partially prepared. Among the most notable is the construction of new apartment accommodations on the ground floor of the monastery," stated the director of the canonry administration. The monastery is also preparing a new information center with a shop and cafe. "Here, we would like to organize smaller cultural events in the future – exhibitions, openings, chamber concerts, screenings, and everything that these spaces will allow us," she added.

The monastery in Nová Říše has experienced a series of tragic events during its 800 years since its founding. Totalitarian regimes attempted to eliminate it twice in the last century. Some of the monks perished in Nazi concentration camps. After the rise of the communist regime, the monks were arrested in 1950 and sentenced to many years in prison and forced labor camps in a staged trial. The monastery then served for 40 years as a military depot. The Premonstratensians began repairs on the monastery buildings after their return in 1991.

The Nová Říše canonry comprises eight monks. The Premonstratensians, with the help of employees, take care of their property, administer five parishes in the vicinity of the monastery, and also have spiritual administration in four other parishes. Regular tourist tours of the monastery are held in July and August, and at other times only by prior arrangement.