Pravoslavný katedrální chrám Sv. Cyrila a Sv. Metodeje / Orthodox Cathedral of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (Prague)
N 50° 04.556 E 014° 25.005
33U E 458266 N 5547235
The Orthodox Cathedral of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Prague is the principal church in the Metropolitan Council of the Czech Republic. The existing structure had its origins as a Roman Catholic church built between 1730-1736 by K.I.Dientzenhofer.
Waymark Code: WMKKGY
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/27/2014
Views: 69
This Baroque church was first consecrated to St. Charles Borromeus. It was built together with a house for emeritus priests in 1730-1739. The church and the house were abolished in 1783 and used for several purposes. It took about 150 years (1934-1935) before the church was given to the Orthodox Church and consecrated to Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
The church is situated on a raised terrace after the ground shaping of the neighbourhood. Baroque frescoes inside the church are edged with stuccoes. The garden in front of the church is framed with a Baroque fence decorated with statues of angels.
Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church in Prague became very well-known after the WWII when it became the hiding place for seven Czech paratroopers after the assassination of the Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia, General SS Reinhard Heydrich. They were sent from England to fulfill several tasks. Two of them Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabcík attacked Heydrich in Prague-Liben on 27th May 1942. He died several days later of blood poisoning from his injuries. Just few hours before the paratroopers were supposed to change their hiding place, on 18th June 1942, they were betrayed and attacked in the church by the Gestapo and SS. After three hours of fighting the parachutists used their last bullets and committed a suicide in order not to be captured. On the wall of the crypt near a window, where you can still see the holes from the bullets, is the memorial plaque with the names and portraits of the heroes. The crypt serves now as the National Memorial Of The Heroes of the Heydrich Terror.