The monastery, founded at the end of the 12th century by the Cistercian order, is a large complex of buildings dating from the Romanesque period to the Baroque era. For centuries it was an important centre of culture and education, and later it was also involved in mining and industrial business. Masters of the High Baroque art in Bohemia, including Václav Vavřinec Reiner, Jan Kryštof Liška and other top painters and sculptors, contributed to the decoration of the Convent Church of the Assumption.
In 1992, the 14th World Congress of the Association of St. Benedict, the patron saint of Europe, was held in the monastery. On that occasion, the Circle of Friends of the Osek Monastery was founded. Its members come from all over the world and have only one task - to help the monastery with all their strength and in any way they can, so that future generations can sit in the shadow of the monastery walls and look at the human work that has survived the ages. Since 1995, the monastery has been a National Cultural Monument.
