Bečov and St. Maurus – a long history and a strong story!
In the west part of the Czech Republic, near the world famous spa town Karlovy Vary, on the right bank of the river Teplá and in the middle of the romantic landscape of Slavkovský forest, there is a unique picturesque little town - Bečov nad Teplou. The main attraction is a set of historical architecture compound of a gothic castle, a renaissance palace and a baroque chateau. Since 2002, a unique Romanesque monument has been presented to the public – the reliquary of Saint Maurus. It is the second most famous goldsmith monument in the Czech Republic (after the Czech crown jewels).
foto: CzechTourism- Mgr. Pavel Dosoudil
The Shrine of St. Maurus
The shrine of St. Maurus is the remarkable gold relic of The Czech Republic. It is comparable to the Czech regalia, but it older and the work of craftsmen are even more extensive. The shrine of St Maurus is among the so-called house-like or tomb-like shrines. Whereas the other ones continue to serve to their original liturgical (ecclesiastical) purposes, the shrine of St. Maurus found itself out of the sphere of ecclesiastical competence, as the only one item of its class.
Story of the shrine of St. Maurus
The shrine of St. Maurus was made for Benedictine abbey at Florennes (Belgium). This abbey acquired the remains of St. John the Baptist and later also St. Maurus, as a present from Reims. The shrine was made to keep these remains.
In the 18th century, after the French Revolution, the monastery in Florennes was abolished. According to the archival records, the shrine was laid aside to one of the parish church´s vestries among old furnishings. Duke Alfred de Beaufort-Spontin (the owner of domain Bečov) discovered this considerable damaged shrine over there. In 1888, the Beauforts transferred the shrine to their castle residence at Bečov nad Teplou.
After the end of the Second World War (1945), the members of the Beaufort aristocratic family had to leave Czechoslovakia due to their loyalty to Germany´s Fascist authorities. Probably just before fleeing the country, they hid the shrine under the floor of the castle´s Gothic chapel. And that is where the memory of St. Maurus disappeared for 40 years.
New history of the shrine of St. Maurus started in June 1984. At that time, a certain U.S. businessman was called on the Czechoslovak consulate in Vienna and wanted to buy an unspecified relic stashed in the Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak investigators participated in all proceedings with this man, trying to deduce from his information and hints what could he be interested in. All the indices indicated the Bečov Castle as the point of interest.
The criminal policemen started to search in the Bečov Castle on November 4, 1985. The next day, November 5, they succeeded to find the St. Maurus under the boarded floor in the Gothic castle´s chapel of the Virgin Mary.
This was one of the biggest discoveries of the 20th century in the former Czechoslovakia. From 1991 to 2002, Czech experts consulting with restoring experts from German Aachen worked on its preservation. The restoring of the shrine of St. Maurus is the world uniqueness. The other house-like shrines haven´t yet been renovated at as large extent as the shrine of St Maurus.
Bečov nad Teplou official website: www.zamek-becov.cz/en/
Foto: Národní památkový ústav