Plague House with Holy Trinity Church

The Plague House with Holy Trinity Church was used as the municipal refuge to isolate persons infected with leprosy, plague or cholera. The Plague House was converted to a poorhouse in the 19th century. The old Plague House at the outskirts of České Budějovice, in the Prague suburb, was used primarily for the isolation of people with contagious diseases. However, it provided the sick only with basic care, not medical treatment. Throughout the Middle Ages and early modern times, plague houses were one of the few measures that towns could take to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.

The earliest mentions date to 1371. Initially it was one large room where the sick stayed together. Only the Baroque reconstruction in 1763-1779 partitioned the building into four rooms to provide the infected somewhat more comfort. The chapel, connected to the Plague House by a corridor, was decorated with frescoes in the 18th century by the famous Budějovice painter František Jakub Prokyš. You can admire a scene of St Augustine talking to a child, Abraham welcoming three young men, and scores of angels with Holy Trinity symbols. Next to the Austrian coat of arms, the gable wall bears the emblem of České Budějovice.

The plague house church was used for religious services until 1971, and the last poor families left five years later. In 1977, the derelict and neglected building was transferred under the management of the Regional State Heritage Management and Nature Protection Center. The whole compound underwent gradual renovation from 2014.