The Convent was founded in the first decade of the 13th century and quickly became a very wealthy convent. During the Hussite Wars in the 15th century the convent was occupied by the Hussite army and destroyed. Two centuries later, during the Thirty Years War, it was once again occupied and plundered. It was then rebuilt in the 18th century and that is where the current buildings on the ground originate.

The chapel on the grounds.

Near the end of the 18th century, however, Emperor Joseph II instituted rationalist reforms and dissolved many monasteries and convents around his empire, including this one. It was then purchased by a noble family, who, in the latter part of the 19th century rented part of the property out to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who established a private all girls school here. This school lasted until the beginning of World War II, when all residents where forced out. By 1950, the convent was requisitioned by the Czech government and the property was put to use as accommodation for the Czech army, who inflicted a lot of damage on the buildings. In 1991 the convent was passed to the hands of the town of Chotěšov, where it has since remained. Today is it completely empty, however many movie makers come here to make films, particularly in the chapel. The tour guide told us that many of them like the chapel particularly because of its dilapidated and abandoned condition. He told us he was watching a Scandinavian film and noticed that part of it had been filmed in the chapel. So its not just Czech films, but people from all over the world come to film there. Pretty neat.

This was a theater and cinema for the girls who lived here when it was a private all girls school. However, a fire in the building several years ago left this part of the building severely damaged. Below is the grand entrance that leads to this room. The fire also damaged the large mural on the ceiling, but after many years they were able to restore the entrance to its former glory. What's incredible is they divided this huge painting into over 600 pieces of canvas, and once they were repainted they essentially glued them onto the ceiling. I can't imagine working on something that huge! I get tired of working on one painting after a couple weeks. This took years!

Above is the outside of the chapel that a lot of movie-makers like to film in.

And since I never got a picture of the front of it because we came in from the back, here's a photo I snagged from Wikipedia:

Pretty neat! 

Also, an update on that 'Ř' sound in Czech. I think I'm getting closer! I say it and Magda and Anna don't go "No, that's not right", so I must be getting closer, right? I probably sound totally American, but hey, I'm not asking for native speaking abilities... I just want to be able to say the dang sound!