Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (Plzeň)
| Cathedral of St Bartholomew | |
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| Katedrála svatého Bartoloměje | |
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 Cathedral of St Bartholomew
Location in Czech Republic
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| 49°44′51″N 13°22′39″E / 49.7475°N 13.3776°ECoordinates: 49°44′51″N 13°22′39″E / 49.7475°N 13.3776°E | |
| Location | Plzeň |
| Country | Czech Republic |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | eng |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | The Church of St Bartholomew |
| Founded | 1295 |
| Dedication | Bartholomew the Apostle |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Functional status | Cathedral and Parish church |
| Heritage designation | National Cultural Monument of the Czech Republic |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic |
| Years built | 13th Century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 57.6 m (189 ft 0 in) |
| Width | 26.0 m (85 ft 4 in) |
| Height | 46 m (150 ft 11 in) |
| Number of spires | 1 |
| Spire height | 102.3 m (335 ft 8 in) |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Plzeň |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | František Radkovsky |
The cathedral of St. Bartholomew (originally the church of St. Bartholomew) is a Gothic church located on the Main Square in Plzeň, Czech Republic. It was probably established together with the city around the year 1295. The church became a cathedral in 1993, when the Pilsner diocese was created. It was included on the list of National cultural monuments of the Czech Republic in 1995.
The church of St. Bartholomew was established probably simultaneously with the city of Plzen around the year 1295. Originally, it was only an affiliated branch of the , which is a part of the Roudná neighbourhood (Roudná is a part of the statutory city of Pilsen and is located in the northern neighborhood in the middle of the city in the urban district Pilsen, Czech Republic). The patron of both churches was the Czech king; in 1310 the king Henry of Bohemia (1265-1335) bestowed the patronal right upon the Teutonic Order. However, the same year, the king was banished from the Czech country and the Order didn’t dare to take hold of their right. The Teutonic Order finally enforced this right from John of Bohemia (1296-1346) in 1322. However, next problem arose with the conflict over a presbytery with the Church of All Saints, resulting in favour of the Teutonic Order in 1342. The takeover of the clergy houses therefore probably became the motive for the initiation of the church construction. The Teutonic Order remained its patron until 1546, when the city of Pilsen got the abovementioned patronal right. The Diecese of Pilsner was established by John Paul II on 31 May 1993, and then the parish church became a cathedral, the urban church of the bishop.
The exact date of the start of its construction is not known, but the oldest extant allusion comes from the year 1307, when the townsman Wolfram Zwinillinger bequeathed the malt and drying factory to St. Bartholomew with the condition of serving a church mass on behalf of his soul. Therefore, it could be estimated that the church could have been established approximately around the same year as the city of Pilsner - shortly after 1295. However, it is not known where it stood. The placement of the church on a public market place was a very unusual solution. The construction of the church started with the presbytery after 1342. The presbytery seems shorter in comparison to usual proportions of a typical presbytery. This is caused by its partial destruction during the construction of the nave and side aisles. The presbytery reached up to the first pair of pillars in the nave and therefore the size of the presbytery had to be adjusted. The pillars were supposed to be shorter, which was changed after the 1360s, mainly because the presbytery was enlarged. The main nave and side aisles were being constructed since approximately 1375. First, the double-tower frontage was established and then it continued towards the already standing presbytery. The plan was to build two towers, the northern and the southern, out of which the southern was never finished. The sacristy was constructed on the northern side of the presbytery together with the tower. The walls of the nave and side aisles were fully built until the beginning of the Hussite Wars (around the 1420s). The height of the northern tower did not exceed the height of the cornice. The church was roofed only with a frame shaped into a tall tent roof, with a tower for smaller bells. This enabled the usage of the church even before it was finished.
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