St. Matthew's Church

St. Matthew's Church is the lower church of Rattay. It is located in a corner, flanked by the apothecary's shop and the butcher's.

It is occupied by the Rattay Parish Priest and Agnes Dependent who live in the near-by presbytery.

Codex extract[]

Note: this is an extract from the codex entry of Rattay.

St. Matthew's Church[]

The lower Rattay church was built in the 1360s at the instigation of Jan Jesek Ptacek of Pirkstein and his wife Anna.

The first church was probably a single-nave design and served as a parish church along with the Church of St. Nicholas, which no longer exists. From 1675—1691 it was demolished and rebuilt in the Baroque style according to plans by Ondrej de Guarde. It has survived in this form to the present day with just a few minor changes. The only remnants of the original church are the tombs of the estate owners, for example a tombstone with the coat of arms of the Lords of Leipa mounted into the cemetery wall, and the base of the baptismal font from 1421.

Trivia[]

St Matthews church secret — The secret chest

It is one of the two churches of Rattay, the other being St. Nicholas' Church.
There are 3 mural that count as "work of art" for the achievement Pilgrim inside the church. They are:
- Felix Grünewald
- Joshua Bare
- Milan Kramár
Like in the other churches, if you committed any crime, there is a box to pay indulgence and set your reputation with Rattay back to 16 inside.
Numerous Skalitz refugee regularly beg for alms in front of the church.
Although they generally prefer the other church, some townsmen and townswomen come and pray here.
The churchyard is quite extensive, covering the whole perimeter of the church.
There is a locked door in the church tower that is impossible to open.
There is an inaccessible secret chest in the church tower, listed as an Easter egg, containing the following:
- 20.3
- 4 Bandages
- 7 Charcoal
- 2 Dried meat
- Green merchant's hat
- Old Father Czech
- Recipe for Bivoj's Rage potion

Frescoes[]

Entrance:

Left: Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The snake climbing the tree is depicted with the head of a king, a reference to the devil.

Nave, facing altar, left side:

Saint John the evangelist with his symbol, the eagle
Crucifixion with Christ in the middle and the two criminals left and right of him. The one on the right is facing Christ and has a halo, because he acknowledged him as Christ, while the other faces away from Christ and has no halo. The two women are Mary Mother of God, Mary Magdalen - the two other persons praying might be Saint John the disciple and the other Mary.

Nave, facing altar, right side:

Mary Mother of God with infants Christ and Saint John the Baptist.
Saint Matthew the Evangelist with his symbol, the angel - patron saint of this church

Wall towards exit:

Two Kickstarter backers depicted as Saints - possibly Saint George (left) and Saint Cyriacus (right), two of the 14 Holy Helpers.

Arch towards altar:

The last judgement - clockwise beginning at bottom left:

The dead rise from the grave
The dead are judged
Angel sounding trumpet
Christ
Angel sounding trumpet
The damned go to hell - depicted as a dragon
Kickstarter backer depicted as beatified emperor - possibly Saint Henry II Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

Choir:

Left: Saint Peter with keys
Right: Possibly Saint Paul with scroll as a symbol of his writing and sword as a symbol of his martyrdom

Altar:

Left: Saint Catherine with wheel, Saint Barbara with tower (two of the 14 Holy Helpers)
Center: Mary with infant Christ
Right: Saint Vitus with pot, Saint Margaret with dragon (two of the 14 Holy Helpers)
Top: Christ

Quests[]

Keeping the Peace - Nightingale waits for Henry in the church yard.
Aquarius - Henry must convince Agnes to leave the presbytery.
Lost and Found - Henry must recover some items in the presbytery.
Honeyed Words - Henry relays lines of poetry to Sir Hans Capon to woo Karolina from the church yard.