NEWS | 7 September 2018

Nearly 1,000 years old remains probably of the Přemyslid princes, the founders of Olomouc Monastery Ota I (1045 – 1087), Ota III. (1122-1160) were taken from the church of St. Stephan Archaeologists to Prague for further exploration. The tin sarcophagus and the painted wooden vault in which the bones were stored were rediscovered at the end of last year by the priest Bedřich Přemysl Hanák and the art historian Leoš Mlčák, walled in the sacristy of the church. They both go to preservation in the Olomouc Art Museum. The public will see them at the show You are here. Wenceslas Square in the time changes that begins on September 6 in the Archdiocesan Museum.

According to estimates, the burial box could contain, in addition to the two Premyslid princes, the remains of their wives Euphemia and Durancia, two Ota III children, Olomouc Bishop John III. and Premonstratensian Abbot at the Hradisku Robert I. “In cooperation with the National Museum, we will perform basic anthropological analysis. The key will be the number of individuals whether men or women, age and physical condition, and whether what we find corresponds to what is supposed to happen. When it comes to answering, further analyzes will take place, DNA will be the most important, “said Jan Frolík of the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences in Prague.

Analysis of the remains will take several months. Samples will be compared by experts with Prague findings. “Now we have seven people from the Prague Castle who are considered members of the Přemyslid family. Were on the DNA track at three of them. If it were actually Otto I and Otto III, it would be a huge shift on both sides. We would verify the Prague Premyslid and confirm the Olomouc Premyslid, “added Frolík.