Tuesday 18 February 2014

CZ-660279 Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Brno, Czech Republic

The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is located on the Petrov hill in the centre of the city of Brno in the Czech Republic. It is a national cultural monument and one of the most important pieces of architecture in South Moravia. The interior is mostly Baroque in style while the impressive 84-metre-high towers were constructed in Gothic Revival style.

View of the Cathedral in winter (from the Castle)
The Cathedral at night

The "midday" bells at 11 am
One of the peculiarities of this Cathedral is the ringing of the noon bells every day at 11 o’clock. This is in remembrance of the year 1645 when the city was held under siege by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War. Legend has it that the Swedish general declared after three and a half months that if he was unable to conquer the city by the time Petrov rang the bells for noon, he would end the siege and withdraw. The people of Brno thus used a ruse and rang the bells  one hour earlier. The Swedish army withdrew, unable to capture the city.
 

The first postcard was sent by Jeremy Nicholas in the December 2013 postcard exchange of Stampboards and the second postcard came from Ivo (6 July 2015) Postcrossing.