Our seminar deals with variety of topics – regional history, cultural history, Sub - disciplines within historical science and therefore we visit various history workplaces and memorable places and institutions. Last semester we visited and get acquainted with the permanent expositions of West Bohemian Museum here in Pilsen. After a several-month break we are following this tradition.
In the autumn last year we saw the exhibitions and expositions dedicated to archaeology and history of the Pilsen region, exposition of art crafts work and applied arts and Pilsen city armoury.
This time we have visited two Pilsen monasteries both of them founded by a different monastic order. There is The Education and Research Library of Pilsen Region in former women Dominican monastery. Students were able to search and see particular departments of the library and they were introduced to the work of this institution. Students could also go through various academic literature such as encyclopaedias of different history subjects as well as different areas of science, which the students can study after their maturita exams.
We also visited former Franciscan monastery where there is a seat of the Museum of Church art belonging under The Museum of West Bohemia. In these amazing rooms, we could admire fantastic collection of gothic art as well as a lot of pieces of art of prominent baroque artists such as Matyas Bernard Braun, Petr Brandl, Karel Škréta or Václav Vavřinec Reiner. There is also the unique Polen Madona of renaissance painter Lucas Cranach senior.
We would like to express our gratitude to the West Bohemian Museum and to the Education and Research Library of Pilsen Region for allowing us into their rooms and showing us around.
Bc. Ondřej Švarc, loose translation
