Dietrichstein tomb
The Dietrichstein tomb is a family tomb of Dietrichsteins located in Mikulov in South Moravia. It is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. Originally, this building was built as a copy of the Holy House of Loreto. Later the church St. Anne was added to the chapel.
At present there are courtyard, grave chapel, two aisles with coffins and stairs in the south tower in the tomb.
History
In 1623, under license from the Pope, they started to build the chapel nearby the Capuchin Monastery, that Cardinal established in 1611. The sculpture of Black Madonna was placed into the chapel and soon became surrounded by stories of legends of miracles. Above the chapel he church consecrated to St. Anne was built by the Cardinal´s successor Maximilian Dietrichstein. It was completed in 1656. The Dietrichsteins had been buried under the Loreto Church since the late 17th century.
The construction of the Loreto Church was carried out according to the plans by Giovanni Giacomo Tencalla, the Italian architect who constructed the chateaus in Lednice and Valtice for the Liechtensteins. The stucco decoration in the former presbytery and in Náchod chapel is the work of his brother Giovanni Tencalla.
The stone facade dates from 1700. The original single-tower facade was reconstructed by Leopold Dietrichstein. Its designer viennese architect Johann Bernard Fischer of Erlach, here brings his expression of Roman monumental Baroque.
The building next to St. Anne΄s, joined at the right angle, was built in 1652 as a sacristy for the church and the jewellery belonging to the Loreta’s Madonna. The treasury consisted of the Madonna’s wardrobe and gold jewels. Opposite the sacristy there ware three Canonical houses for the canons who looked after the church. The Náchod chapel belonged to the Moravian Baron Family from Náchod who owned the estate near Mikulov. The cupola of this chapel also in Roman Baroque style is the only what remained in its original appearance.
In 1784 one of the most destructive fires in the history of the town broke out in the vicinity of the Loreto Church. The entire northern part of the square burnt down, together with the Loreto Church and the Capuchin Monastery. The monastery ceased to exist and Loreta remained the ruin until 1745. The coffins, the sculpture of Black Madonna and the Loreta treasury were saved and removed to the Church of St. Wenceslas in Mikulov. Later the contents of the treasury were sold at auction.
The ruin of the Loreto Church was rebuilt by Franz Joseph Prince of Dietrichstein in 1846 as the Dietrichstein tomb according to the plans by Austrian architect Heinrich Koch. The collapsed vault of the nave wasn’t rebuilt, its area became a courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard there is the sculpture of Franz Joseph Prince of Dietrichstein, the work of Emanuel Max from 1859. The former presbytery became a funeral chapel with the Empire facade.
There are 45 coffins holding the remains of members of the Dietrichstein family in the Dietrichstein tomb.
Coordinates: 48°48′24″N 16°38′22″E / 48.8066°N 16.6395°E