Premonstratensians founded the abbey in 1143 under Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II. The monks first built in wood, with a Romanesque basilica at the center of spiritual life, and stone buildings gradually replaced the wooden quarters. A fire in 1258 caused heavy damage.
Abbot Jan Lohelius reconstructed the church and built a new dormitory and refectory. Kašpar Questenberg completed the lower cloisters and prelature, and Rudolf II began the votive Church of St. Roch in 1602, completed by 1630. After bombardment in 1742 the church was rebuilt.
Jeroným Hirnheim built the Theological Hall library, which the article says was completed in 1679, with ceiling frescoes by Siard Nosecky and Anton Maulbertsch. Václav Mayer, abbot from 1779, built the Classical-style library now called the Philosophical Hall. The library holds over 200,000 volumes. A reading room is open, and the article gives no hours.
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