Rainbow Sky

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 00:52

The concrete rotunda church in Brno is not the first in the portfolio of the architect Marek Jan Štepan: a similar church near Zlín was consecrated several years ago (we wrote about it here). However, the cult building on the northern outskirts of Brno, according to the author, was conceived back in 1968, in the Prague Spring, when there was hope for liberal changes, including in architectural and spiritual life.

The site for the construction was the Lesna district - a former village that at the beginning of the 20th century became part of Brno. Its territory is occupied by a residential area of the 1960s - 1970s, which is still considered a very successful example of postwar modernism. Its architects supplemented the area with a spiritual center, to which, in our days, they finally added a church.

Церковь блаженной Марии Реституты Фото © BoysPlayNice

The temple is dedicated to Blessed Maria Restituta, a Catholic nun who was born at the end of the 19th century in the then village of Lesna, 600 meters from the site of the new church. Maria worked as a nurse in a Vienna hospital and was executed in 1943 for disobeying Nazi orders (she put her professional duty and faith above her) and openly criticizing the regime. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

The first church in the world, dedicated to Maria Restituta, does not remind of her Christian feat, but, according to the architect, is a refuge from the modern world oversaturated with information, like the temple near Zlin. The laconic interior is enlivened by a concrete vault with traces of rough wooden formwork, which paints the cleristory glass in rainbow colors. This ring, from the inside and outside, creates the impression of the "floating" of the church ceilings. Considering that the circle is a symbol of the sky, the metaphor of the vault - the firmament conceived by Stepan is quite obvious. Although the design of the building dates back to 1968, one cannot fail to note the similarities of this 80-meter ring with the work of Olafur Eliasson in Aarhus

“Your rainbow panorama” (2006–2011).

The centric interior perfectly suits the requirements of the modern Catholic liturgy. The triangular opening in the wall reminds of the veil of the Jerusalem temple that was torn at the moment of Jesus' death on the cross.

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1/4 Church of Blessed Mary Restituta Photo © BoysPlayNice
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2/4 Church of Blessed Mary Restituta Photo © BoysPlayNice
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3/4 Church of Blessed Mary Restituta Photo © BoysPlayNice
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4/4 Church of Blessed Mary Restituta Photo © BoysPlayNice

A bell tower with a triangular plan not only aspires to the heavens, but also faces the church, towards the flock by the protrusion of its belfry at the top. The coloring of its top in red and yellow (gold) also carries a symbolic meaning. In addition, the Greek words "light" and "life" and the sign of the cross are applied to the wall of the tower. They are borrowed from archaeological finds in Mikulčice near Brno, dating back to the era of the Great Moravian Empire.