De la circulation des "locis sanctis" – le Mons Sion à Prague

In 1143, a Premonstratensian abbey with a church dedicated to Mary was founded on Prague's Strahov hill, and the place was called Mons Sion. One of its founders was Jindřich Zdík, a Moravian bishop, who had been a member of the chapter of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1137–38. After returning to Bohemia, Bishop Zdík worked to implement church reforms with the help of regular canons and, later, assistance from the Premonstratensians from Steinfeld. Mons Sion evoked Jerusalem not only through its placement and dedication, but also through its monumental architecture without decoration: its plainness, displaying without distraction the building's harmonious proportions and technically perfect construction, was a response to the proclaimed reforms. The workshop of this abbey played a major role in the twelfth-century building boom of Romanesque Prague. The route of the Palm Sunday pilgrimage processions between the Přemyslid castle and Strahov also confirmed the importance of Mons Sion. The pilgrimages were patterned after the Jerusalem processions between the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Zion. Mons Sion, the Přemyslid castle, and the Knights of St. John thus formed a symbolic triangle on the left bank of Vltava river, connected by a new stone bridge to the settlement of the right bank and the other Přemyslid residence, Vyšehrad.