The Church of St. George

The Church of St. George (Jiri) in Doubravka ranks among the oldest buildings in Czech Republic.
In 992, on his return from Rome, the Prague bishop St. Vojtech brought with him 12 Benedictine monks and, before finally building a monastery for them in Brevnov, he stationed them above the confluence of the Mze and Uslava rivers, where a small church was built for them as well as a small monastery called Kostelec, consecrated to the Virgin Mary. The church of today is made up of an almost square nave with a flat ceiling, short Gothic presbytery and small semi-circular apse.

During repair work in 1912 the nave of a small church was excavated, about 13 ft wide and 22 ft long, its masonry 34 in thick. This is proof that the building there conceals not only a little church, but also a small monastery. The dividing wall is preserved in the floor. Judging by various signs in the construction, the church gained its present-day form around 1300 and was gradually rebuilt.
The late Gothic period added a spire, then came the Renaissance, and it was Baroque that most left its mark on the present form, plus the afore-mentioned restoration of 1912.

The main altar is early Baroque from the beginning of the 18th century, the side altars rococo. The statue of the Virgin Mary from the 15th century is a modern copy.

Around the church is a graveyard containing, amongst others, the tomb of the Treybal family, designed by Kamil Hilbert and with a relievo by J. Kastner set into the tomb.

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