The most beautiful religious buildings Czech Republic

It is the most "spectacular" and the most recent synagogue in the neighborhood, quite far from the previous ones. In the past centuries, the neighborhood had two parts separated by a Catholic church. One was inhabited by Jews of the Western Rite who gathered around the Vieille-Nouvelle synagogue. The Jews of the Eastern Rite lived around the Spanish Synagogue. However, it was the Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition and settled in Prague who gave the synagogue its name in the early 16th century. There was already a synagogue on this site in the 12th century, called Stará Škola (Old School). It was damaged and burned down several times, but in 1836 it was rebuilt and an organ was installed. The first person to play this instrument was Vladimír Škroup, composer of the song Kde Domov Můj, the anthem of the Czech Republic. Today, after more than twenty years of restoration, it is a majestic building in neo-Moorish style, whose interior is decorated with golden oriental stucco, the imitation of the Spanish interiors of the Alhambra in Granada. The synagogue also houses the fascinating exhibition dedicated to the history of Bohemian Jews, which has benefited from the renovation work to become even more interactive. It traces the life of the Jewish community from the creation of the district by Joseph II until after the Second World War. Exciting and terrible pages of history!

This important place of pilgrimage was built between 1626 and 1750. The main facade (baroque in inspiration) is the work of the Dientzenhofer family, is of great harmony. The horizontal and vertical lines that compose it are a perfect balance game. Its tower houses a set of twenty-seven bells that play a very soft melody every hour for several minutes.

Inside, the sanctuary, also called "Santa Casa", is according to legend one of the houses of Nazareth that the angels deposited all over the world. There are more than fifty "Santa Casa" in Bohemia, but the most famous is the Santa Casa de Loreto in Italy. The Prague one was built by G.-B. Orsi at the beginning of the 17th century. Its stuccoes were of course made by Italian craftsmen: we will see the remains of the old frescoes, a statue of the Madonna in cedar wood and a silver altar.

Go directly to the first floor of the cloister: it is here that the "Prague Sun", a dazzling golden monstrance with more than 6,000 flaming diamonds, is kept in the Treasury room. All these jewels are a gift from Countess Ludmilla Eva von Kolowrat, who had wished to see her jewellery so assembled after her death. The work was designed by the Viennese architect Fischer von Erlach. Masses in Loreta are held on Saturdays at 7:30 am, Sundays at 6 pm, and at 8:30 am on holidays and at 6:30 pm on weekdays.

Vladislav had this convent built for the Order of the Premonstratensians in 1140, damaged several times by war and fire, and then rebuilt, its current appearance dates back to the Baroque period (17th and 18th centuries). After the dissolution of the religious orders in 1952, the monastery was transformed into a museum of national literature that boasts a magnificent library. This confirms its role as a cultural centre, which it has been since the first years of its creation.

In a radiant Gothic style, the church, built between 1365 and 1470, was the place of worship of the Hussites until 1621 and remains the largest church on this bank of the Vltava River. It has no facade on the square, being surrounded by the arcades of merchant houses, but dominates the space of its two arrows, 70 m high, which stand out nicely on the Prague sky. Facing the church, you will notice that the left arrow is slightly lower and narrower than the right. These types of arrows are called "Adam and Eve". The construction of the church, a magnificent Gothic building, began in 1365 on the site of another Gothic church that had itself been built on the site of a Romanesque building. Its impressive arrows date from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Golden Virgin on the façade today is actually an old golden chalice, symbol of the Hussites, melted in 1621 and reused (this is what we now call recycling!). Inside, after observing the impressive volumes of the main nave, a superb mixture of Gothic and Baroque (the Baroque vault dates from the 1689 fire) can be admired as well as magnificent witnesses of the period, the gothic canopy made of stone by Matěj Rejsek, pewter baptismal fountains, the oldest in existence today (1414), the 14th century stone pulpit, or the tomb of Tycho de Brahe, a famous Danish astronomer who came to Prague at the invitation of Emperor Rudolph II. Some works by the famous Czech painter Karel Škréta can also be seen on the altar panels. The church is completely integrated into the urban fabric, since its entrance is accessed through a private house. A legend tells us that in one of the neighbouring houses, and not just any house, since it was the one where Franz Kafka grew up, the service could be followed from a window facing directly into the nave. It owes its name of Tyn to the presence next to a former merchant's courtyard, once a major trading place in Prague, today a very beautiful courtyard, still located behind the church, welcoming shops, restaurants and bars.

As you exit, take the small alleyway of the Týn, which leads into the old town. You will be able to admire, on the tympanum, using as much as possible the little distance offered by the alley, very beautiful reliefs representing the passion of Christ.

This chapel dates from the same period as the cathedral. It was originally a cemetery chapel, built on two floors and including an ossuary. After the departure of the Jesuits to Kutná Hora, the chapel found other uses. Goods were stored there, and later it became a workshop for building organs. It took a long renovation to restore its lustre and make it one of the most beautiful examples of the late Gothic style in the Czech Republic.

It was built by Marc Mordechai Maisel, primate of the Jewish community, between 1590 and 1592 after receiving the approval of Rudolph II. In 1689, a fire destroyed the area and the old synagogue was rebuilt. Its current appearance dates from between 1893 and 1905, in the neo-Gothic style. Then it was transformed by the Nazis into a warehouse for furniture from the spoliations of deportees' apartments. The exhibition The History of the Jews in Bohemia and Moravia in the 20th and 18th centuries has been installed here (another part of the exhibition is in the Spanish synagogue). We get to know the Jewish population and the historical data on this territory, the legal and social situation of their ancestors. You can learn interesting things about Jewish wisdom and some of their representatives from the Renaissance period.

In the display cases there are many tin and silver objects classified by theme, you will see crowns that decorated the Torah scrolls or small artificial hands that helped to follow the text. Most of these objects were stored by the Nazis in order to open a kind of giant Jewish museum in Prague.

Maiselova Street presents a succession of buildings, mostly Secession, which punctuate the space in beautiful verticals. Particular attention should be paid to numbers 3, 5, 7, 9 and 21, the latter being the work of architects F. Weyr and R. Klenka (1911).

This impressive synagogue does not go unnoticed with its neo-Moorish style and varied colors. The interior is just as striking and well worth a visit. This synagogue, sometimes referred to as Velká Synagoga (Great Synagogue), is Prague's newest and was built at the beginning of the ^20th century. Inside, note the organs, signed by the Czech Emanuel Štěpán, and the division of the space into two levels, one strictly reserved for women, the other for men.

Since the place Zelný Trh, by borrowing small rue Petrská (in the Southwest of the place), one reaches the hill of Petrov, on which the cathedral of Brno is drawn up. Surrounded by the complex of the palaces of the bishopric (Biskupský Palác), the church is surmounted by impressive romantic arrows, quickly become symbols of the town of Brno. Built on the campsite of the first castle of the city and a basilica of romanesque style (and perhaps even of a temple dedicated to Venus), this church, Gothic in the beginning, were set fire to by the Swedes in 1645. It was rebuilt in baroque style, then refitted in Gothic style in XIX^e century. Inside, one from the start is crushed (it is the goal besides) by the main altar, high with 12 m and is decorated, in particular, of the statues of saint Pierre and holy Paul, carved by the Viennese Josef Leimer in 1881. The very high stained-glass windows, behind the altar, absolutely superb, are extremely coloured and rich person of thousand details. This part of the building which surrounds the altar enjoys a major and hot light, contrasting with the rest of the building cream color. Perhaps this interior hides a secrecy: specialists are checking the assumption according to which the cathedral would still preserve the bones of saint Constantine, the pere of Christianity in Central Europe. One will be able to climb at the top of a tower to admire the city. Or to go down in the crypt from XII^e century.

The rear of the Town Hall forms the forecourt of the white St. Nicholas Church (Kostel Svatého Mikuláše), designed by the great Baroque architect K. I. Dientzenhofer and built between 1732 and 1737. A chandelier of astonishing dimensions hangs from the interior. In season, concerts are held at the church almost every day, at 10am and 5pm. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance, one hour before the concert. To the left of the church, we recommend a stop in front of Franz Kafka's birthplace.

The location of the cathedral, outside the city, was dictated by the density of galleries and underground mines that weakened the basements. Look up at the amazing gargoyles and the thousand details of the buttresses.

The construction of this monumental church lasted one hundred and seventy years! Begun by Petr Parler (the architect of the Charles Bridge in Prague), it also featured the participation of Benedikt Rejt, author of the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle. He notably created the vault of the central nave of Sainte-Barbe Cathedral.

The total of five naves is now indicative of the megalomania of the initial project that was never carried out (the local nobility had planned to build the largest cathedral in Central Europe...). A singular and superb vault, therefore, undoubtedly the most spectacular in the region, or even in the country, whose pillars flourish in a multitude of stone petals. Inside the ribs you can detail the coats of arms of the city's great families and those of the trade guilds. Keep your eyes up and you will see the four statues showing the virtues added in the 18th century, as well as the organ from the same period. Several interesting frescoes dating from the late 15th century have been painted behind the altar, including the Crucifixion and the Queen of Sheba. At the back, the Art Nouveau stained glass windows offer a harmonious contrast to this medieval scenario.

A little higher up than the Château, Place Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is a haven of peace and quiet. This important place of pilgrimage was built between 1626 and 1750 by the family of the famous Dientzenhofer. The design is reminiscent of Italian churches: the architect was in fact commissioned to draw inspiration from the sanctuary of Loreto, near Ancona, and he succeeded marvelously, which explains the church's name. Its tower houses a set of 27 bells that play a melody every hour for several minutes, gently giving rhythm to life in the neighborhood.

Inside, the sanctuary, also called " Santa casa ", is, according to legend, one of the houses of Nazareth that the angels deposited all over the world. There are more than fifty Santa Casas in Bohemia, and all are the object of major pilgrimages, although none has attained the aura of the Santa Casa in Loretto, Italy.

The interior is a masterpiece of decoration. Paintings, gilding, sculptures and relics form a busy but always harmonious whole. In the Treasure Room, don't miss the "Prague Sun", a dazzling gold monstrance with flaming rays, set with 6,222 diamonds. For enthusiasts, the treasury also houses an impressive collection of cult objects assembled over the last few centuries from various regions and countries of Europe. A priceless religious (and financial) treasure!

It's a masterpiece! A true baroque manifesto, rich and complex. The ensemble, tower and dome, located in the axis of the Charles Bridge, compose with the horizontal of the castle a perfect balance.

The church is located where, centuries before, there was a small Gothic sanctuary. It was built in the first half of the 18th century. To save space, it was necessary to raze almost a dozen bourgeois houses, destroy two streets, a parish and a school. King Leopold II laid his foundation stone in 1673. The plans are the work of Dientzenhofer and Lurago, who built the tower. The church brings together and marries ingeniously all the elements of a Baroque symphony: curves, counter curves, gildings, trompe-l'oeil, marbles... A great moment of jubilation. Its main façade, very dynamic, decorated with a statue of Saint Augustine by J. Kohl (1684), is particularly impressive. The interior is also a marvel of baroque composition. The decoration is the work of important artists.

Inside, a magnificent trompe l'oeil fresco covers the ceiling. Representing the life of Saint Nicholas, it covers an incredible area of almost 1,500 m² and is the work of Jan Lukáš Kracker, the Austrian painter. The dome of the tower was decorated by François Xavier Balko who painted a fresco in a style that already opens the way to the rococo. It was Ignác Platzer and his workshop who worked on the fifty or so statues (notably that of Saint Nicholas, gilded, on the main altar). The pink artificial marble covering the columns and walls adds to the rich appearance of the interior of this magnificent building. On the left, the altar dedicated to the Virgin is decorated with a Gothic statuette, a Black Virgin. The paintings are copies made from originals by P. -P. Rubens kept at the National Gallery in Prague. During the visit, don't miss climbing up to the bell tower to enjoy the superb view of the city: you never get tired of following the tramway ballet winding through the winding streets of Mala Strana, the flow of tourists on the Charles Bridge, the boat tours on the Vltava River and the tiled roofs in all directions! In the late afternoon around 5pm, you may have the chance to attend a concert. Particularly moving, Mozart's Requiem was performed in this church for the first time, fifteen days after the composer's death.

An ancient synagogue existed here as early as the ^11th century, between the old Jewish cemetery and the Horowitz house. The Pinkas synagogue was founded by Rabbi Pinkas in 1479 and enlarged by Aaron Meshulam Horowitz, a member of his family, in 1535. In the ^17th century, a gallery was added for women, quite different from the one seen in the Vieille-Nouvelle synagogue. This one is a balcony, much more spacious and open to the central nave. Successive floods were the main reason for frequent rebuilding. This synagogue is nicknamed "The Monument of 80,000 Victims", and commemorates all Czech and Moravian Jews who died during the Holocaust. The names of 77,297 people (men, women and children) are inscribed on all walls, along with their precise dates of birth and death, compiled from Nazi archives. The names were erased by damp during the Communist period, but the lists were found and the walls re-engraved after independence. On one wall, the names of the concentration camps are written, one below the other. But this is not the most moving testimony. The second floor is devoted to the drawings of the children of Terezín, created between 1942 and 1944. They were painted by the little ones and kept in a suitcase thanks to their teacher. The colors, subjects and dates weigh heavily on the hearts of everyone who has passed through this synagogue.

St. Thomas Abbey is built in an area where Brno's oldest foundations have been found. The present Gothic church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was built in 1323 as the main building of a Cistercian monastery. The museum pays tribute to the work of the monk-researcher Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884), who conducted his experiments on peas here, making him (only after his death) the founding father of the theory of heredity and the most important precursor of genetics. The complex also includes an experimental garden and a cultural center. In 2022, to mark the bicentenary of the researcher's birth, a comprehensive exhibition on his work was inaugurated in the abbey, presenting it in a playful and interactive way. Facsimiles, photographs, enlarged microscope views and hands-on workshops provide an insight into the workings of dominant and recessive genes and, above all, how they are passed on from one generation to the next, something Mendel discovered in his own time.

The architecture of this abbey is unique in Moravia, and its grey bricks are unusual to say the least. Inside, don't miss the Baroque altar (1762), the giant late-Gothic chandelier and the gold-plated tabernacle. The basilica is also home to the country's oldest (^13th century) wood painting, depicting a highly venerated black Madonna (Černá Madona).

Adjacent to the museum dedicated to Mendel, you can also visit the abbey's brand-new museum, which opened in early 2022. It offers a complete tour of the Augustinian abbey, including the Baroque library with its 4,000 books (a further 23,000 are hidden in secret passages!), followed by the abbey treasury and its magnificent liturgical artefacts. The tour continues with a complete collection of well-preserved tunics and religious vestments from various periods. One room will of course be dedicated to Mendel, but will leave aside his discoveries, well detailed in the museum dedicated to him, to focus instead on the research of his time and his life in the abbey, with numerous personal objects in support. Among the beautiful pieces on display is a Rubens, which belongs to the Augustinian order and was previously exhibited in Prague. A fascinating exhibition.

This synagogue is the oldest in Europe. Built in 1270, in Gothic style, it has a simple and bare volume, with two brick gables that hide a very steep roof. Its entrance, excavated, corresponds to the old street level. Its strange name is due to history. It was originally called New, but another one by that name was born right next door, hence the change to the Old-New Synagogue. It survived all the disasters of the Jewish city, fires, floods, and the sanitation of the district at the end of the 19th century. We go down a few narrow steps into a first room with 17th century crates that were used to keep the money collected by the tax authorities. The synagogue is composed of two naves separated by two pillars. In the middle, the pulpit raised with a wrought iron gate in flamboyant 15th century Gothic. Notice the strange small narrow windows in the walls, which separate the main hall (17th and 18th centuries) from the women's galleries. Not being allowed to attend the ceremonies alongside the men, they followed the cult through these tiny slits. Banner, symbol of the independence of the Jewish community at the beginning of the 14th century, is one of the objects that attract attention. She wears a star of David with a hat in the middle, an accessory whose wearing was made mandatory for the inhabitants of the district in the 14th century.

It is here (Klausová synagoga) that Rabbi Löw, the famous father of the Golem, allegorical and protective figure of the Jewish quarter, which he is said to have shaped with his hands from the land of the banks of the Vltava before having to make it disappear because of the damage he caused, gave his teaching. In Baroque style, it houses the National Jewish Museum, which provides access to ancient Hebrew manuscripts. You can also consult documents from the ghetto before the major works of 1896. Its name comes from the word klausy, which meant the place that served as a school. The synagogue was built in Baroque style in 1680, on the site of three small synagogues, one of which housed Rabbi Löw's famous school. Today, inside, there is the collection Les traditions et les coutumes juives. The different stages of life (birth, circumcision, bar mitzvah, marriage, death...), Jewish holidays, their meaning and course are clearly explained through manuscripts and objects used on occasion, presented in display cases. A very beautiful insight into Jewish religious culture. You will see a large number of candlesticks, silverware, textiles and decorative objects. Across the street, in the narrow rooms and staircases of the Ceremony Hall (Obřadní Sněm), there will be an exhibition on death and its customs, illness and medicine. It describes medicine in the ghetto and Jewish cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia.

A beautiful Baroque façade hides a Romanesque basilica (Bazilika svatého Jiříqui) considered to be the best preserved in Bohemia. It houses under its massive vaults the crypt of the kings of the Přemyslides dynasty and the remains of Saint Ludmila of Bohemia. The convent next to the basilica was founded in 973 and has since undergone many alterations. It was closed in 1782 under the reign of Joseph II to be transformed into barracks. The last reconstructions date from 1962 to 1974, when the convent was restored and adapted to accommodate rare paintings. Today, the building is the exhibition space of the Czech Art collection from Rudolf II to the end of the Baroque period. The works are exhibited in the rooms, some of which retain Romanesque and Gothic elements, others were marked by the Renaissance, and there is no shortage of Baroque either. Among the paintings from the time of Rudolf II, we can name the paintings of Hans von Aachen, Bartoloměj Spranger or Adrian de Vries. As far as the Baroque period is concerned, there are remarkable works by Karel Škréta, Ferdinand Maximilian Brokof or Petr Jan Brandl. The exposure is quite large: allow at least one hour. If you look at the interior architecture of the building itself, you will notice that it shines with its great austerity, contrasting with the other monuments in Prague which generally respond to the credo of the Rococo or Baroque, much more provided with ostentatious decorations.

The first Baroque church in Prague (Kostel Panny Marie Vítězné) was built by German Lutherans between 1611 and 1613. By 1624, it had become the property of the Carmelites. Today's appearance dates back to 1640, and today the church is well known thanks to the Pražské Jezulátko ("Little Jesus of Prague"). This 46 cm high statuette is made of wax and set with dozens of precious stones. The particularity of this "Jesus" is to have an abundant wardrobe: no less than 46 outfits, changed regularly about ten times a year according to the major religious holidays. It also has two crowns. The clothes he is not wearing are on display in the small adjacent museum. The statue was given to the Carmelites by Polyxena of Lobkowicz. You will find it on an altar to the right of the main nave. It arouses a mad devotion and is the cause of many pilgrimages. The church altars also deserve the attention of visitors, as many of the paintings depicting the saints were painted around 1700 by Petr Johannes Brandl, a rococo painter better known in the West since the fall of the wall, most of his works having been on the other side of the Iron Curtain. When you leave the church, all you have to do is cross the street to enter the shop that sells Bambino di Praga as a souvenir, in different materials, sizes and clothes. Other souvenirs are also on sale directly in the church.

This church (kostela sv. Jakuba Většího) was damaged in 1689, then refurbished between 1690 and 1739. It is a good example of the superposition of styles: a baroque covering on a Gothic building. Inside, there are masterpieces, including the mausoleum of Vratislav of Mitrovice, which Fischer von Erlach and Brokof created in 1714. This tomb is the most beautiful funeral monument of Czech Baroque. The painting The Martyrdom of Saint Jacob, is the work of V.-V. Reiner (1739).