Plague church

When Liberec was ravaged by a terrible plague in 1680, the existing city cemetery no longer proved sufficient and a new one needed to be laid out. A smaller church was built next to it in 1696. The builder M.A. Canevalle from Prague opted for a cross-shaped ground plan, as the church was consecrated to the Holy Cross. Extensive reconstruction work in the mid-18th century gave the church a Baroque air, similar to that of the church in Hejnice. The dean, Kopsch, had a major say in the decoration of the church and in the establishment of Liberec's first library above the sacristy. In recognition of all that he had done for the church, he was interred in the crypt below the altar when he died.

Statuette of Our Lady of Sorrows

Some valuable works of art have been preserved here until the present day, the rarest of which is a statuette of Our Lady of Sorrows from 1506, allegedly fished out of the Thames in London, where it ended up after its church was destroyed. It was bought from a certain merchant by Count Franz Clam-Gallas, who placed it in the chapel of Frýdlant chateau. From there, it made its way to the church in Hejnice, but since 1698 has adorned the main altar of the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross.

Liberec’s first library

It was within the walls of this church that dean Anton Kopsch founded Liberec's first library in 1759, to give young clergymen a place to learn. The Library has survived until now in its original form; it is located above the sacristy and the room is lavishly decorated with frescoes and period furniture. The Library belongs to the Archdeaconry of Liberec and now contains 2,000 volumes, mostly religious literature written in Latin and German.

Baroque garden

The church itself is certainly a masterpiece, but there are also numerous rare monuments around it. In the garden of the church, there stands a plague column crafted by the famous sculptor M. B. Braun, around which are Stations of the Cross with paintings by J. Führich, who was born in nearby Chrastava, and the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, which is a replica of the chapel that stands in the middle of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is also well worth noting.

Via Sacra

The church and the Baroque garden are part of the sacred route that runs for 550 km along both sides of the Nisa River and connects the most beautiful sacred places in the Tri-Nation area.