Cistercian Porta Coeli Convent
"Gate of Heaven" Convent from 1233
Take a short walk from Tišnov through the Gate of Heaven in Předklášteří and you will be reminded of the beauty of the Romanesque-Gothic style. The Cistercian convent presents all the main building styles. The foundation is Romanesque-Gothic and it is a concentrated splendour. The Porta Coeli complex is rightfully one of the most important architectural monuments in the country. It was founded in the 13th century by Queen Constance as a female Cistercian convent. She is buried here with her son Ottokar.
But the fate of the convent was not an idyllic walk through history. After a period of prosperity came the Hussite wars, the Thirty Years' War, the convent was closed down by Emperor Joseph II, then a textile factory was established within its walls, and in 1860 the Cistercian nuns returned to the convent... only to have the communists close it down again. But after 1989, the community of nuns came back once again and has been here ever since.
We sincerely recommend a tour of the convent as part of your visit to the local Museum of the Podhorácko Region. (Tours start at every full hour and you need at least a group of three people.) The richly decorated Gothic portal in the west facade will take your breath away. Perhaps the most valuable structural part of the convent is the chapter house and its ancient stone reading desk. The atmosphere is so immersive that you may think you see a nun in a simple robe reading a precious manuscript.
And what about the icing on the cake? Visit the Klášterní kavárna café or the Pivovar Porta Coeli brewery!
