Monastery Mělník

Even before the establishment of the state, the settlement on the site of today's Mělník was an important centre for Czech tribes. They called themselves the Pšové, and St. Ludmila, among others, came from this tribe. Later, after the mid-13th century, King Přemysl Otakar II established a new royal town here and, within its walls, gave his consent to the establishment of an Augustinian monastery under the direction of two local nobles (Smil of Citov and Pavel of Luštěnice). The promising development of the convent, called Pšovka (Šopka), was ended in March 1421 by the Hussites, who killed the Augustinians and burned down the monastery buildings. Life gradually returned here from the end of the 15th century, but it never reached its pre-Hussite level. In 1611, the Pšov monastery was plundered by conscripts from Mělník, and the land was temporarily taken over by the town of Mělník. It was not until after the defeat of the second Estates Uprising that the monastery began a second phase of undisturbed activity, associated with a significant reconstruction in the Baroque style. Under Joseph II, the monastery was abolished and its property was purchased by the Lobkovic family, who converted the convent into the administrative centre of their estate. When it was taken away from them in 1949, the State Farms established a vocational school with a boarding school there. After restitution in the 1990s, the building fell into disrepair. The situation was further exacerbated by floods in 2002. It was not until 2020 that Senlife, s. r. o. began to renovate the devastated building, converting it into a nursing home for the elderly. Since August 2021, guided tours describing the long history of the place have been taking place in the building.