RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS

The baroque church completed in 1715 has a ground plan in the shape of a Greek cross. It was designed by the famous Italian architect Giovanni Batista Alliprandi. The church is connected to the Piarist Campus, which has a central inner yard with a sundial and water well. The original campus consisted of classrooms, a large library, a dining room and rooms to accommodate the students. The Piarists, famous for spreading science and culture, brought the secondary education to Benešov from Italy.

The original early-gothic temple from the 13th century is located in the place where once used to be the oldest settlement of Benešov. At the same time it is the oldest preserved building in Benešov. After the fires in 1420 and 1648 it was refurbished in the style of late gothic and later into baroque style. The statues of Matyas Bernard Braun and even the wall paintings by Ignác Viktorin Raab have been preserved there. The separate Upper Belfry Tower is situated in front of the church entrance. It includes several bells from the 15th and 16th century. The tower got its current appearance, including the clock, after the repairs in 1828.

The church has been recorded since the 14^th century. The originally Gothic style building was burnt down in 1645 and a new nave was added in 1666. The church was damaged by fire again in 1813 and repaired in 1899.

The asymmetric and inhomogeneous building of the Church of St. Philip and Jacob attracts visitors with its unusually wide walls which are in some places as wide as 2.4m. Also the ground plan of the building is unusual. The presbytery is rather small and almost square, its ceiling is cross vaulted without ribs. The oblong nave is slightly wider but relatively short with it length axis running from north to south and therefore situated towards the presbytery with its longer side.

As the chronicle written by the so called Beneš Minorita states, the Benešov Minorite Convent was established in 1247 by a provost of the Old Boleslav canonry Tobiáš of Benešov. Tobiáš was supposed to give the new community the Benešovicové family seat that was located on a promontory, nowadays known as Karlov, above the present day town. Only the remains of the pentagonal presbytery with two gothic windows were preserved.