January 1999: Copy of Turin Shroud found at Czech monastery

A copy of the Shroud of Turin, venerated by some as the believed burial shroud of Jesus Christ, was discovered at Czechia’s Broumov Monastery a quarter century ago.

The Church of Saint-Adalbert in Broumov where the Shroud of Turin was discovered|Photo: Anton Kaimakov, Radio Prague International

Document proving that the canvas was offered in 1651 by Turin Archbishop Julius Caesar Bergiria to Matouš Ferdinand Sobko from Bílenberk.|Photo: Zdeňka Kuchyňová, Radio Prague International

The rare artefact is now held at a different monastery, at Prague’s Břevnov, while a replica is on show today in Broumov.

The work was discovered in January 1999 in a wooden box behind a stucco wreath in a church in the Broumov Monastery by its then administrator.

According to a Latin inscription on the rectangular strip of cloth, it was donated in 1651 by the Archbishop of Turin, Julius Caesar Bergiria, to the abbot of the Church of St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town (and later archbishop of Prague), Matouš Ferdinand Sobek from Bílenberk. He dedicated it to Broumov Monastery.

The replica of the Shroud of Turin in Broumov Monastery|Photo: Jaroslav Winter, Broumov Monastery