F-686 Želiv Monastery

The monastery was established above the confluence of the Želivka and Trnava Rivers by Prince Soběslav I in the 12th century. It originally served the Benedictine Order, but they left Želiv 10 years later. In 1149, the site was settled by the Premonstratensian Order. After repeated plundering by the Hussites and the expulsion of the brothers, the monastic life at Želiv was not revived until 1622. The monastery enjoyed significant prosperity in the 1st half of the 18th century, when it was renovated in the baroque gothic style by Jan Santini-Aichel. It survived the period of the Josephine reforms, but was subsequently dissolved during the communist era. It has been inhabited by Premonstratensians again since May 1991.