Quite understandably, the political situation in Czechoslovakia after the 1950s did not encourage activities in the field of scared architecture. Cloisters, churches and smaller sacred buildings fell into disrepair and often had to fulfil alternative functions, some were selected for reconstruction and new sacred buildings were rarely built. After 1989, this deficit started to be redressed, and designing a sacred building became a question of prestige.
Pride of place among Czech designers of this type of architecture was taken by Marek Štěpán, a long-term advocate of the phenomena of Christian churches, and whose design studio was invited to participate in the reconstruction of the Piarist Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross within the framework of the Program for the Revitalization of the Chateau Hill. The project was a real challenge for the designers as the church was derelict, required a full reconstruction and, according to the building plans, had to fulfil cultural, tourist and educational functions alongside its sacral ones.
As the designers themselves say, “the key to the architectonic concept of the church lay in its turbulent history”. The building, a pinnacle of the Baroque style dating back to 1726, had already burnt down four times and, in 1958, was finally officially considered to be derelict, which led to its closure in 1968. Thanks to the initiatives of Alena Randáková, a conservator at the Heritage Institute, the building was provisionally shored up whilst it was being used for storage. This “sense of hopelessness” inspired the designers: “A sort of meeting place between the greatness of its mass and its temporality, the grand scale of ideas and its fragility, construction and destruction. In a way, it portrays the fight between Christianity and Communism.”
The grey colouring of the interior plaster and likewise the bronze plaques, illustrating important milestones throughout the history of the building, reflect this idea. These plaques, which the architects also applied when designing the reconstruction of a church in Ostrava-Hrabová (2006), are set into the sandstone floor made up partly of original (at the crossing of the nave and transept) and partly of new flagstones. An additional artistic feature, at first quite inconspicuous, are the fragments of sparkling mica set into the vegetal-ornamented capitals of the pilasters.
The original interior fittings including the altars and statues, excellently highlighted due to the monochrome walls, were painstakingly restored; essential new furniture, e.g. the benches in the side chapels, are of simple form, and made from solid beech wood so that it is clear at first glance that they are modern additions.
Although the church essentially still fulfils its sacral function, it also fulfils various functions in the spheres of culture, tourism and education, thus necessitating further architectonic input. These primarily concern the areas of the matroneum, eastern oratory and sacristy, newly designated for the exhibition of sacral art from the collections of the Hradec Králové diocese, and interconnected with a modern, steel pedestrian bridge. The crypt houses temporary exhibitions of, predominantly, artistic, sacral work of contemporary artists. A viewing terrace between the two spires, accessed via a new spiral stairway, serves the tourism component of the program. The educational aspect of the program is concentrated in the western oratory. The complete project, unique in the Czech Republic, is complemented by an installation by Václav Cigler and Michal Motyčka situated at the crossing of the nave and transept and symbolizing the spirit floating above the waters. The matt glass altar table, in which a light source pulsates, and a green laser cross copying the floor-plan of the church in the shape of a Latin cross are also by the same artists.
