Velehrad, Sanctuary of

VELEHRAD, SANCTUARY of. — Olomouc (v.) in Czechoslovakia, a place of pilgrimage and the seat of the international Unionist Congresses.

In the ninth century, near the present-day village of V., according to the ancient tradition confirmed by recent excavations, stood the capital of Great Moravia and the see of Archbishop St. Methodius (v. CIRILLO (COSTANTINO) E METODIO, SANTI), destroyed (around 900) by pagan Hungarians. In 1205 the mar-

grave of Moravia, Vladislav Jindřich Přemyslide, founded a Cistercian monastery near V., which soon became an important religious and cultural centre. In 1421 a band of Hussites set fire to the monastery, burning the abbot and several monks alive. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries V. slowly recovered, and in the seventeenth century it flourished anew, taking up again the traditions of Cyrillo-Methodian devotion. But in 1789 the Austrian Emperor Joseph II suppressed the monastery, whose possessions were confiscated, while its rich archive and library were lost. The Cyrillo-Methodian jubilees of 1863 and 1885 revived interest in V., which, especially through the work of the priest (later Archbishop of Olomouc) A. Stojan (v.), once again became the destination of numerous pilgrimages.

In 1890 responsibility for the sanctuary of V. Jesuits, who in 1916 opened the Apostolic School (Pontifical from 1919) for the education of missionaries among Eastern dissidents. From 1907 to 1936, seven international Unionist Congresses were held at V., organized by the Academia Velehradensis, which also has its seat there. The magnificent sanctuary of V. (a basilica from 1928) was restored (1935–36) with contributions from the entire nation.

By order of the Communist government, the Jesuits were deported in 1950, with the consequent paralysis of all activities at V. BIBLICA.: R. Hurt, Dějiny cistercidého hlátera na Velehradě, Olomouc 1934; Fr. Cinek, Velehrad víry, there 1936.

Giuseppe Olšr