Navštívení panny Marie - Chapel

The late Baroque Chapel of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary above the town of Slavětín is an important architectural monument in the Louny region, situated in a location with a wide view of the countryside. The surrounding area was already settled in the princely period, when the importance of Louny (later a royal town) and the market settlement of Slavětín grew. The Church of St. James the Greater in Slavětín acquired valuable wall decorations in the pre-Hussite period, and the town itself boasted a pair of manor houses from the High Middle Ages and was the centre of a small estate. After the Thirty Years' War, it became the property of Kateřina Papazoniová of Mirandola, née Zahrádková of Průchod (†1682), who in 1672 initiated the construction of the Chapel of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. The sanctuary was completed in 1677 and was designed as an octagonal central structure with a hipped roof and illuminated by a semicircular window with small divisions in each wall. A rectangular presbytery with a half-dome and a sacristy was added to the east. The origin of the chapel, its founder and other owners were attested to by inscriptions and coats of arms in the interior, which was repaired in 1742 and 1817. Masses were held there throughout its existence by the parish priests of Slavětín, but in the second half of the 20th century, liturgical services ceased. Later, the chapel was freely accessible and vandalism destroyed all of the original interior furnishings (including an interesting music gallery). The dilapidated monument began to be restored only in 2024 thanks to the activities of the St. Wenceslas Association. The restoration was supported by a benefit concert held in the chapel on 16 June 2024.