Church of St Thomas (Kostel sv. Tomáše)

Originally a Late Gothic Augustinian monastery church

Construction of this church, located on today’s Moravské náměstí (Moravian Square), started in the 14th century, with the financial support of the House of Luxembourg. It was designed as an Augustinian monastery church and a place to bury Luxembourg Margraves. The church was damaged by the Swedes during the Thirty Years’ War, but restored in the 17th century using designs by Jan Křtitel Erna. On an extended Gothic floor plan, Erna designed three Early Baroque naves and added chapels between the supporting pillars of the side naves. Renovations started in 1661 and took 10 years. In 1749–1752, the inner presbytery was renovated in the Baroque style by Mořic Grimm, and Jan van der Furth created the statues on Erna’s original church portal. The tomb in front of the main altar, created by Austrian painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch, contains the remains of the famous Margrave Jobst of Moravia.

The original Augustinian monastery adjacent to the Church of St Thomas was also renovated in the Baroque style. It is now called Místodržitelský palác (the Governor’s Palace) and houses Moravská galerie v Brně (the Moravian Gallery in Brno).