The Old Brno Abbey Museum (MUSO) is the result of a collaboration between the Mendel Museum of Masaryk University and the Old Brno Abbey. The museum’s permanent exhibition offers a tour of authentic monastery premises with a rich, almost 700-year history.
Breathe in the spirituality of the place that saw the history of Brno unfold, and walk the same hallways where Cistercian nuns prayed, Pavel Křížkovský and Leoš Janáček composed, Gregor Johann Mendel did his research, and František Tomáš Bratránek wrote his books.
A Czech and Polish queen who withdrew to Brno after the death of her second husband. She founded the Cistercian convent in 1323, and the nuns lived here for nearly 500 years. In 1782 the convent was abolished by the decree of Emperor Joseph II. Elizabeth Richeza is entombed in the Basilica of the Assumption; her tomb is marked by a tile with the letter E.
In 1783 the Augustinians took refuge in the Old Brno monastery.
Their original monastery, which had been founded by Jan Jindřich of Luxembourg, was appropriated by the Moravian Vicegerency, and the monks moved to Old Brno together with their library and the painting of Our Lady of St Thomas.
The monastery had survived many difficult periods of history and the ravages of war, including both world wars. It was abolished by the Communists in 1950. In the following decades the buildings of the monastery served other institutions.
Today, the Old Brno Abbey is again in the stewardship of the Augustinians. They decided to reveal their collection of artefacts, thus establishing a new museum. The Old Brno Abbey Museum (MUSO) was opened on 1 February 2018.
Key points of interest in the museum are the Mendel Refectory, the galleries of sacred and profane art, liturgical items and vestments used by the Augustinians themselves for centuries. The only exhibits that are not from the collections of the Brno Augustinians are precious archaeological objects that harken to the long history of Old Brno.
The Augustinians’ dining hall, which is now called the Mendel Refectory, was built in the eighteenth century. It harbours a unique mosaic floor and an Art-Nouveau stucco ceiling. The hall is dominated by a relief depicting the Basilica of the Assumption with pilgrims and St Augustine.
Elizabeth Richeza, the Cistercians, and their fate will introduce you to the history of the Old Brno Abbey. Archaeological discoveries will show you if Old Brno is really as old as it sounds.
The secular works of Jan de Herdt, Lucas van Valckenborch, or Franz Geffels decorate the walls of the Gothic sleeping quarters of the Cistercian nuns. The largest painting of Jerusalem in the world, by the Brno artist Ludwig Blum, will catch your attention as soon as you enter.
The chapter house – the Augustinians’ assembly hall – was transformed into a gallery of religiously themed works. Paintings from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries are complemented by a unique carved door with the likeness of Bernard of Clairvaux, a prominent member of the Cistercian Order.
Were the Augustinians founded by St Augustine? Where did they acquire their Black Madonna? Is the abbey still functional? These and other questions will be answered in the final section of the exhibition, which is dedicated to the history of the Brno Augustinians. You can examine books from the abbey’s library or an extensive collection of liturgical vessels.
To close off the exhibition, you can inspect monka’ habits and richly ornamented liturgical vestments, including the symbols of an abbot – the miter, crozier, and pectoral cross. You will also have a unique view into the aisle of the Basilica of the Assumption.