Rare 500-year-old cloak of St John Capistran goes on display in Brno

A rare 500-year-old relic goes on public display for the first time in decades as Brno’s Petrov Cathedral opens a new exhibition tracing the legacy of the city’s Franciscan friars. The centrepiece is the preserved cloak of St John Capistran, a 15th-century preacher who twice visited the cathedral and whose garment has long been venerated by locals as a sacred relic. “Believers used to cut small pieces from the cloak as keepsakes,” parish priest Vladimír Hubálovský told Czech Radio Brno. “It is one of the most precious objects in our care.” The exhibition, which opened today in the cathedral crypt, coincides with the feast of the city’s patron saint and runs through the summer.

The cloak, dating to the 1450s, has been kept in the cathedral’s archives since the 1960s and has only been shown publicly on a handful of occasions. This year’s display is the first since the 2020 pandemic restrictions were lifted, organisers said. The exhibition also features manuscripts, vestments and early printed books from the Franciscan library, much of it rescued from the 18th-century suppression of monastic orders. “We want visitors to feel the continuity of faith and scholarship that the friars embodied,” Hubálovský said.

The timing is deliberate: 21 June 2026 marks the 570th anniversary of Capistran’s first recorded sermon in Brno. The friar, later canonised, was a fiery preacher who rallied defenders during the 1453 Ottoman siege of Belgrade and is credited with halting a plague outbreak in the city. His cloak, woven from coarse wool, bears faint burn marks—tradition holds they were caused by sparks from the candles he carried during night-long vigils.

The display is part of a broader programme to mark the 750th anniversary of the Franciscan presence in Brno, which dates to 1276. The cathedral, built on Petrov Hill, has been a spiritual landmark since the 12th century and remains one of the city’s most visited sites. “This exhibition is not just about the past,” said historian Pavel Holman, who curated the display. “It is a reminder that Brno’s identity has always been shaped by those who chose to serve rather than rule.”

Visitors can view the cloak in a climate-controlled case, flanked by interactive displays that reconstruct Capistran’s sermons and the daily life of the friary. The cathedral has extended its opening hours through August and is offering guided tours in Czech, English and German. Tickets, priced at 120 CZK for adults, are available online and at the door.