Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria / Kostel Sv. Kateriny Alexandrijské (Prague - New Town)
N 50° 04.413 E 014° 25.496
33U E 458849 N 5546966
A significant dominant feature of the upper part of Prague’s New Town is the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria (Kostel Sv. Kateriny Alexandrijské) belonging to the Orthodox Church from 2012.
Waymark Code: WMMQM2
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 10/26/2014
Views: 49
The Church of St. Catherine was built between 1355-1367, on the behest of Holy Roman Emperor and Czech King Charles IV. The church was dedicated to a favourite saint of Charles IV, to St. Catherine. Beside this church there used to be a monastery of the women’s Augustinian Order and from 1568 it was occupied by the men’s Augustinian Order. From the ancient Gothic convent's buildings there remains only a small part of a wall.
A new monastery in a Baroque style was built by famous Czech architect Kryštof Dientzehofer in 1718-1730. The church was reconstructed in the same style in 1737-1741 and the author of this reconstruction plan was Kilián Ignác Dientzehofer. The original Gothic steeple was preserved and ingeniously integrated into the newly formed church facia.
The Augustinian monastery was discontinued as well as the St. Catherine church during the reforms of Emperor Joseph II. After its reconstruction the monastery building was utilized as a house for the mentally affected. For the same purpose the new building in a late classical style was built in the south part of the garden. From 1837 church services were provided for the house boarders.
The church was desecrated in 1950 and the "Museum of Prague Capital" established a sculpture depository. In the 1960s this depository was even opened to the public for about 10 years.
Unusual Gothic steeple of the St. Catherine church is 51.3 m high and it is an important orientation point from many different directions. It has five floors. The lower three are of prismatic shape and the two upper floors are of octahedral shape. The lower floors have baroque windows and the upper floors have gothic windows. The steeple is covered by an octahedral pyramidal roof with finial and a cross at the top.
This originally Roman Catholic church, owned by City of Prague, was given for using to the Orthodox church in Czech Republic and Slovakia in autumn 2012. The first service was held here in December 24th, 2012 and the church is administered by Bulgarian branch of Orthodoch church in Czech lands.