Publisher © Czech Geological Survey, ISSN: 2336-5757 (online), 0514-8057 (print)
The rock “opuka” from Hrádek village, the building stone of the St. Nicholas church in the town Louny (NW Bohemia)
Abstract
The nave of the St. Nicholas church in the town Louny (NW Bohemia) is one of the most impressive late gothic architectural monuments in the Czech republic. The entire nave, inclusive pillars and vault is constructed of the pale yellow, homogeneous "opuka" rock (this Czech term corresponds mostly with siliceous marlstones up to calcareous silicites) of Cretaceous age. The field survey covering broad environs of the Louny town revealed that possible source of these building stones can be found in large abandoned quarries near the Hrádek village (10 km NW of Louny town). Local archives covering a time span between 1519 and 1526, i. e. period of exploitation of this building stone, also evidence this presumption.
