History
The first written mention of the settlement known today as Nové Dvory dates back to the 13th century, when the village, originally called Nový Dvůr, belonged to the nearby Sedlec monastery. Probably it was the location of the monastery's farmstead. Nový Dvůr passed into secular hands in the 16th century when it was acquired by nobleman Kašpar Melichar of Žerotín, who had a Renaissance château built here in 1593. The Žerotín family owned the estate until 1636.
After it had become derelict, the estate was bought in 1679 by Bernard Věžník, provincial judge and governor of the Čáslav region working in the imperial service, for which he got promoted to the rank of count. The new count rebuilt the château in the early Baroque style and extensively cultivated its immediate surroundings. He also commissioned the construction of greenhouses, a pavilion called the Saleta, a jet fountain, an ornate stone fountain, and a crescent-shaped water reservoir. Apart from that, Věžník also had landscaping work done in the surroundings of the property. In 1686, he chose the château as his new residence and made it the cornerstone of his estate. In 1722, the estate was sold to Count František Antonín Pachta of Rájov. However, this sale did not include the Church of St Anne and the monastery then still under construction. In 1764, Jan Karel Chotek became the estate's new owner, rebuilt the château and repurposed its Baroque gardens for agricultural production.
The most important persons in the history of the church of St Anne and the adjacent monastery are Count Věžník and his wife Barbora. Count Věžník's care of the estate in the 17th century is also thought to have had a strong spiritual dimension. This was materialized by the construction of a Dominican monastery and the church of St Anne at the opposite end of the château gardens. The construction of the church began in 1695 and was undertaken by master builder and burgher of Kutná Hora Giovanni Battista Spinetti di Angelo on the basis of plans drawn by an unknown architect, possibly Jean Baptist Mathey. The church was completed in 1696, as evidenced by the chronogram above the main entrance to the church. The construction of the monastery, originally intended to house twelve monks, did not begin until 1720.
The church of St Anne was consecrated in 1722, but it had certainly served its purpose for several years before, as weddings and funerals of members of the Věžník family had taken place inside it before its consecration. The building of the whole monastery reached completion in 1727. However, the edifice never served as a Dominican monastery, as originally intended, but merely as a residence used by the Dominican Order. Three of its monks staying there were regularly returning to their home monastery of St Mary Magdalene in Prague. In 1784, following a series of reforms implemented by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, member of the Habsburg family, the residence was converted into a school and became municipality property. The church of St Anne served as the school's church. In 1789, it became a parish church, and a larger choir was built between 1800 and 1801. A pipe organ from the workshop of Jan Tuček, an esteemed organ builder from Kutná Hora, was later installed in it. In 1996, the monastery building found a private owner. Today, the church of St Anne is managed by the Roman Catholic Parish of Kutná Hora – Sedlec.
The church of St Anne is a cherished early Baroque edifice built on a circular ground plan with a semicircular presbytery. It forms the central wing of the monastery building complex erected on an E-shaped ground plan. The church has a domed roof crowned by a cylindrical roof lantern, the inside of which is embellished with stucco decorations depicting clouds with gilded rays and the dove of the Holy Spirit. The interior of the church is octagonal, subdivided on the ground plan of a Greek cross set in a chamfered square. Also of interest are the rich stucco, sculptural and fresco decorations found throughout the church. Inside niches in the walls of the nave, there are sculptural stucco decorations depicting four saints – St Joseph, St Dominic, St Joachim and St Florian. On the walls of the main nave, there are also four stucco wall medallions with fresco paintings of the evangelists Luke, Mark, Matthew and John, together with similar stucco medallions depicting the allegories of the elements (water, air, fire and earth). Also exceptional in the glazed gallery oratory, which served as a place of worship by Countess Věžníková herself as well as by other nobility. In its centre are two angels carrying a Renaissance panel painting of the Holy Kinship from the beginning of the 16th century, the probable author of which is Matthias Grünewald. The main altar has the shape of a gazebo on a circular ground plan, with two floors and a protruding brick mensa. Placed in the niches of the altar are statues of the twelve apostles. The two richly decorated side altars (one dedicated to All Saints and the other to St John of Nepomuk) are executed using the stucco lustro technique (a combination of green-grey marbling with wood imitation of a dark brown shade). The Baroque pulpit also dates from the 1st half of the 18th century. The entrance to its platform is hidden behind decorative panelling in the rear part of the pulpit. The original marble column portal with the coat of arms of the house of Věžník comes from the same period as the pulpit. Between the windows in the upper part of the nave, we can see the heads of putti angels. It is a repainting from the 19th century. Probes have proven the existence of an older fresco painting of a landscape, which, however, is preserved only in fragments. At least four members of the Věžník family are buried in the crypt of the church of St Anne, the entrance to which is located in the middle of the nave. The crypt holds the remains of the church's founder Bernard, his wife Barbora, their son Romedius and their daughter Eleonora.
One highly influential personality in the history of the church of St Anne was Countess Barbora Věžníková, née Švihovská, the wife of Bernard Věžník. The founding of the monastery and the church was a joint undertaking of both spouses, but when Count Bernard died in 1714, the monastery became the countess's residence and also the meaning of her life. The very consecration of the church in the name of St Anne, who in the Baroque period was worshipped as a female patron of mothers, pregnant women and widows, points to Countess Věžníková's part in the construction of the church. The count himself directly mentioned in his will that the church was mainly his wife's project. In 1722, Barbora even joined the Dominican Order as a tertiary (lay member of the order). Although Countess Věžníková did not achieve her goal of having a full- fledged monastery built at Nové Dvory, she invested large funds in the whole building. She spent them not only in its construction, but also in its decoration and liturgical accessories and furnishing of the church, including monstrances, chalices, candle holders, lamps, reliquaries, kneelers, liturgical clothing, and textile items, some of which the countess herself embroidered.