Thick smoke billowed from the roof of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Chlum near Třeboň on Monday evening. Nine fire brigades – two professional and seven volunteer units – battled the fire at the landmark of Chlumecký náměstí.
A church burned down on the square in Chlum near Třebon. | Video: HZS of the South Bohemian Region
The fire was reported at 5:55 p.m., and shortly before 7 a.m., firefighters brought it under control. “We are dismantling the roof of the church. We are evacuating the valuables from the church to the premises secured by the mayor of the village to prevent further damage during the firefighting work,” said Vratislav Malý, the press spokesman of the South Bohemian fire department, after 7 p.m.
Nobody was injured. A fire investigator is also working on the scene. The amount of damage was tentatively estimated at 15 million crowns.
Before 9:00 p.m., the firefighters reported that they were nearing the end of the intervention. The commander of the intervention gradually returned the individual units to their bases.
Vendula Nováková lives about a hundred meters from the church. She saw the smoke billowing from the roof of the tabernacle as she went for a walk. “It was a sight to cry, after all, we walk past the church every day. Fortunately, the deputy mayor Jiří Hájek, who is a firefighter, was already on the scene at that time. I believe that it will be possible to save as much as possible from the church,” said Vendula Nováková.
The fire in the church in Chlum u Třeboň was captured by local resident Vendula Nováková:
Source: Vendula Nováková
Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Chlum near Třebon it stands on a hill in the square and is a distinctive landmark of the village. According to tourist guides, it was built in the years 1737-1745 by the owner of the Chlumec manor, Count Jan František from Fünfkirchen.
It is said that John František had the church built out of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life. The scene of the unfortunate event on July 31, 1737, when the count and the bricklayer were crushed by the collapsed vault of the shooting range he had built near his residence, is depicted in the dome of the church.
The heir to the throne, Archduke František Ferdinand D’Este, allegedly sat on the archduke’s oratory in the church. He met his compatriots here for the last time before leaving for Sarajevo, where he was murdered on the eve of the First World War. Furniture that remembers the Archduke still stands in the church today; eg there is a chair in which he sat.