Kostel Sv. Tomáše na Malé Strane / Church of St. Thomas in Lesser Town (Prague)
N 50° 05.321 E 014° 24.311
33U E 457449 N 5548660
Despite its Gothic core from the 14th century is Church of St. Thomas in Lesser Town of Prague (Kostel Sv. Tomáše na Malé Strane) also one of the city' most valuable monuments of the Baroque architecture and scultpural art.
Waymark Code: WMVW5Y
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/02/2017
Views: 31
Despite its Gothic core from the 14th century is Church of St. Thomas in Lesser Town of Prague (Kostel Sv. Tomáše na Malé Strane) also one of the city' most valuable monuments of the Baroque architecture and scultpural art.
The Church of St. Thomas in Letenská Street at Lesser Town was built in the Gothic style on the foundation of an older, probably Romanesque church. Its presbytery was consecrated in 1315 and then the entire church in 1379. When the Hussite riots destroyed the church, it was rebuilt in 1584-1592 by Augustinian solitaires with the participation of Bernard di Alberto. This reconstruction in Renaissance style was due to its seriousness and was completed at the beginning of the 17th century. Designed by famous architect Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, the church gained its present Baroque appearance in 1727-1731. Today little remains of its Gothic origins apart from the spire. The ceiling is covered in frescoes by Václav Reiner depicting the life of St. Augustine and, in the dome, the legend of St. Thomas. Incredibly, Reiner completed the work in just two years. Impressive interiors are decorated with sculptures by F.M. Brokof and stunning main altar from 1731. Paintings in fact copies over the high altar, of St. Thomas and St. Augustine were commissioned from Rubens. Originals can be seen in the Sternberg Palace. The skeleton of martyr St. Just rests in a glass coffin is also worth seeing.
The tall slim octagonal pyramidal roof of the church steeple is one of the typical silhouettes of Lesser Town. It is hard to overlook this steeple from many different directions not only for its certain atypical look but also for its height, which is 62 m. In the past the gothic steeple had features of a later baroque reconstruction such as ellipse-shaped and circular windows or corner pilasters. Today there are four bells suspended in the steeple. One of them is originally from 1652 and bears the name of St. Augustin. The next three bells are younger and come from the plant of Petr Rudolf Manoušek, master bell-founder.
The church is an integral part of the Augustinian convent (house number 28).