For centuries, no one knew where he really was. The existence of Rožmberk’s grave in Vyshshy Brod was confirmed by researchers only in 2011. Visitors to the monastery will be able to virtually see the resting place of Peter Vok, a still undeciphered cartouche with an inscription and a mysterious ring found. The unique event has a limited number of places for those who wish.
It is as if you yourself are descending into an underground crypt for the first time, where no one has been before you for 400 years. Through large-scale projection, augmented reality, and a holographic projector, researchers promise an experience that will be unique even to themselves.
On Friday, September 8, at 19:00, right at the site of the discovery of Rosenberg’s tomb, in the Cistercian abbey in Vyshy Brod, a virtual 3D model of the underground crypt with the sarcophagus of Peter Wok will be projected. Its details, a mysterious ring and a cartouche with secret signs that have not yet been fully deciphered will then be seen for the first time by visitors and experts themselves in an enlarged size on a five-meter screen.
At the same time, it is the unusual size, exceeding life size, that can help scientists uncover hitherto hidden details and connections. “This will not be the first time that a different point of view has advanced the study,” explains geoanalyst, one of the tomb’s discoverers and host of Friday’s program, Jiří Šindelář.
“Thanks to a new point of view, for example, we unearthed a medieval safe in the wall of the church of the Milevsky Monastery. We created a virtual 3D model of the found spaces and, together with archaeologists, projected it at a scale of 1: 1 onto the wall of the church. This finally confirmed the assumption that we did not find some kind of senselessly located secret corridor, but the entrance to the safe. Only in the context of the entire building and from outside the corridor, it was absolutely obvious,” adds Schindelarzh.
Similarly, full 3D scans of St. Vitus Cathedral and its dungeons have helped historians and researchers. Thanks to him, it was possible to appreciate the former forms of the building – the Romanesque basilica and the pre-Romanesque rotunda. Details imperceptible to the human eye were only highlighted by a precise digital model and from a viewing angle only possible with virtual imaging technologies.
The secret of the sarcophagus
One of the mysteries that still surrounds Rožmberk’s grave concerns a cartouche with an inscription on the tin sarcophagus of Wok. Obviously, the date of death of the nobleman is not accurately indicated there. On a half-meter tablet it is written: “The most enlightened prince and master, Mr. Piotr Vok Ursinus, the last ruler of the House of Rožmberk, exchanged life for death in his castle in Třeboň on November 5, before dawn, in the year of Christ 1611. He is buried here.” However, according to historical sources, Peter Vok died only on the sixth of November. So where is the mistake? Actually nowhere.
The number five is written with the Roman letter V, and when examining the virtual 3D model, the experts found that a symbol resembling an omega symbol is also placed above it. “We can assume that this symbol above the letter V is another graphic way of writing the number six (Roman VI),” explains Schindelarzh.
Thanks to the digitization of the inscription, experts discovered other mysterious and still unsolved signs on the cartouche. At the September event in Vyshshi Brod, interested parties will also be able to consider them in detail and offer their theories. According to the researchers themselves, the public’s help is always welcome.
Holographic projection and augmented reality
The unique engagement ring of Woka’s wife Katerina of Ludanice, which “mysteriously” appeared in the tomb between 2009 and 2011, will also be displayed in a larger-than-life-size holographic projection.
It will be possible to look into the tomb itself through augmented reality using your own phone. In this case, the researchers will act in the same way as when discovering the crypt. Instead of launching a real camera into the crypt, they will move around a virtual 3D model. Therefore, in this respect, the experience must also be very authentic.
“However, since no technology can convey the genius of an exceptional historical place, the virtual visit will take place right in the premises of the monastery complex, practically next to the burial chamber of the rulers of the House of Rožmberk. And trust me. , there is nowhere closer,” promises Jiri Shindelarzh, one of the co-organizers of the event.
The number of places for the event “The Secret of the Sarcophagus of Peter Vok” is limited. Tickets for 50 kroons can already be ordered on the website. The event is organized by the Cistercian Abbey in Vyshy Brod during the European Heritage Days.
The lectures will continue on Saturday, September 9, when the restorer Andrei Shumbera will reveal to everyone the secret of the Zawiszkiy Cross. This double-sided golden medieval cross-reliquary is one of the most valuable monuments of its kind in our territory. Its height is 70 centimeters, it is decorated with filigree and decorated with precious stones and pearls. It was probably made between 1220 and 1230.
Schumberra was one of those who restored the reliquary of St. Mauro in the eighties of the last century. It belongs to the most valuable jewelry monuments of the Czech Republic and in this respect is compared with the jewels of the Czech crown. Shumbera will also make a replica of Katerina’s wedding ring. It will also be discussed in lectures.