Collegiate Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
The courtyard of the church with its 68.3 m high observation tower is crossed by the 15th meridian east.
The 68.3-meter-high tower, a landmark of the historic center of Jindřichův Hradec, stands in the courtyard through which the 15th meridian of eastern longitude passes.
The tower dates back to the 15th century and acquired its current form – like many other town buildings – after a devastating fire in 1801, which destroyed 318 houses and claimed 30 lives. In the summer, the tower is open to the public and offers a stunning view of the city and surroundings. The originally Gothic church was built in the second half of the 14th century, renovated about a century later, and extended with the so-called Špulíř Chapel. This chapel features an interesting ribbed vault with figural keystones and decorative animal motifs. Only the stone baptismal font from 1525 and the relics of St. Hippolytus, the town's patron saint, survived the great fire. The relics are stored in a glass tomb beneath the Renaissance tombstone of Joachim of Hradec from 1565. In front of it once stood a sarcophagus with a kneeling figure of the deceased, which, along with the church’s most beautiful red marble altar (a gift from Františka of Meggau), was destroyed in the fire. The choir loft was built in 1483. The organ is modern, dating from the mid-1980s.
