Archaia Brno have published new information based on research conducted at the Brána Nebeská Monastery. A previously-undiscovered chapel from the 13th century has been uncovered, with an unmarked grave found nearby. Photo Credit: Archaia Brno.
Brno, May 8 (BD) – Archaia Brno, an organization dedicated to archeology in the city of Brno, has announced the latest breakthrough in their research conducted between 2019 and early 2021 in the area of the Brána Nebeská Monastery. The monastery in Předklášteří near Tišnov revealed hidden surprises during the reconstruction of the church belonging to the Brno Diocese – archaeologists have discovered an unknown chapel.
Photo: Unknown chapel found at the Brána Nebeská Monastery in Předklášteří. Credit: Archaia Brno.
The chapel was mentioned in written sources but was yet to be discovered. Thought to be accessible from the chancel, the entrance was revealed during construction works, bearing the local cutting of the plaster and the original threshold. The chapel was located between the pillars perpendicular to the end of the church. After clearing the crown of the masonry, a rectangular floor plan with an asymmetrical polygonal finish was exposed. The chapel was 8.3 metres long and 5.8 metres wide and the inner space had dimensions of 7.1 m x 3.6 m.
Within the chapel, in the southern half, archaeologists were able to recover pottery from the 13th century, stored in clay deposits. However, the northern half of the structure proved to be in much worse condition, indicating that it had even partially sunk below ground level at some point. Archaeologists then noticed that a basement was part of the structure of the chapel; the space probably functioned as a funerary grave, added to the church in the second half of the 13th century at the earliest, or during the 14th century.
The building is thought to have disappeared during the Hussite wars, sometime during the 15th century, judging by the funerary site in the area of the chapel. The buried individual was found laying on their back, and was possibly buried in a coffin originally. It is not certain that there is a direct connection between the newly found chapel and the grave, as a considerable number of graves from the 15th and 16th centuries have been found in the southside of the church.
