Church of Virgin Mary at Slovany, Kostel Panny Marie na Slovanech (Prague)
N 50° 04.338 E 014° 25.030
33U E 458292 N 5546832
The Gothic Church of Our Lady (Kostel Panny Marie), a part of Benedictine Abbey na Slovanech - Emauzy, exceeds also thanks to unusual architectonic element - new twin concrete spires added back in the 1960s.
Waymark Code: WMKKHD
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/27/2014
Views: 52
The Gothic Church of Our Lady (Kostel Panny Marie), a part of Benedictine Abbey na Slovanech - Emauzy, exceeds also thanks to unusual architectonic element - new twin concrete spires added back in the 1960s.
The Monastery was founded by Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1347, when Pope Clement IV complied with his request to establish a monastery with Slavic liturgy. The emperor called the monks of the Eastern ordinance into Prague. They were originally from Dalmatia and Croatia, and used an Old Church Slavonic as liturgical language.
The monastery as well as a new three-aisle church were completed in 1372 and it is rightly considered a pearl of high-Gothic architecture. However, the cost of building the monastery escalated to the same amount as to that of the Charles Bridge. It seems that the workshop of Petr Parlér significantly participated during the construction. Equally important are the preserved Gothic wall paintings.
After the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Emperor Ferdinand III invited the Spanish Benedictines, under whose operation the monastery and the church were transformed thoroughly into the Baroque style. The high gabled roof of the church was removed and two onion-shaped front towers were built. At the end of World War II, the church was seriously damaged during U.S. air strike in February 1945. In 1967, a modern shell structure made from white concrete was built replacing the destroyed towers. The Church is again in the hands of Benedictine order and serves for liturgic use.