Nová Říše has a clear cultural focus: the Premonstratensian monastery takes visitors from its founding history to its library, church art and exhibition rooms. Other highlights include a Stations of the Cross with thirteen brick niche chapels, a literary connection to Otokar Březina, and a cycling route linked to the town. There are several distinct starting points for planning your visit: monastery history, architecture, literature and outdoor activity can each be explored as separate themes.

History and Tours of the Monastery

The Premonstratensian monastery was founded as a convent for women in 1211 and later converted into a monastery for men. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul dates from the second half of the 17th century. Two periods therefore stand side by side: the monastery’s early history and the much later church. This distinction helps avoid reducing the history of the site to a single building or century.

Parts of the monastery are open to the public on guided tours; visitor arrangements may vary. Check the current tour conditions before your visit. The tours include the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the Chapel of Saint Anne, as well as the Baroque library and exhibition halls. The music room, prelature, picture gallery and treasury are also stops on the tours.

The church has rare interior features: frescoes, an organ, a wooden pulpit and wooden pews. These examples bring together wall paintings and musical furnishings with wooden elements of the interior. This makes the furnishings a subject in their own right, alongside the building’s period.

Library, Art and Literature

The monastery library contains more than 20,000 volumes. One particularly interesting connection is to the history of design: four rare 18th-century herbarium volumes served as models for the decoration of the so-called Novoříšská keramika. Alongside the size of the collection, this offers a specific link between historical books and ceramic design. For travellers interested in book and cultural history, this is a distinct theme within the monastery’s offerings.

The monastery complex also houses the “Hall of Pavel and Antonín Vranický” exhibition. Almost all of Otokar Březina’s poetic works were written in Nová Říše. The cultural perspective therefore extends beyond buildings and collections to include exhibitions and literary history.

Architecture and Route Options

The Stations of the Cross in Nová Říše consist of a cross and thirteen brick niche chapels, all built to a uniform architectural design in the second half of the 19th century. Compared with the monastery church, which dates from the 17th century, they provide a more recent architectural reference point. Their different forms—the church on one hand and the sequence of niche chapels and the cross on the other—give culture enthusiasts two distinct ways to explore the town’s architectural history.

A signposted cycling route runs from Telč to Želetava and follows the red trail markers and a cycle route to Nová Říše. Check the current route before setting off, as trail conditions may change.

Discover more destinations: Kamenná and Jihlavy, Kamenice, Jamné, Svojkovice, Věžnička, Krahulčí, Vanůvek, Vyskytná Nad Jihlavou

For the broader travel overview: Jihlava District.