St. Apollinaire Church
St. Apollinaire Church (kostel sv. Apolináře) belongs to the significant monuments of Prague 2. This unique landmark is popular with tourists not just because of its architectonic curiosities but it is mainly a place where the public maternity clinic was opened in 1789. The church is also located close to the University Campus at Albertov of Prague.
History of the church
The church stretches on the Prague´s hill Větrov in the New Town. The one-aisle Gothic basilica dates back to the second half of the 14th century. It was founded by the important Bohemian monarch Charles IV in 1376. The church used to be a collegiate canonry once which was transferred to Prague from Sadská. There used to be school next to the church, too, where the Bohemian king Wenceslas IV. spent the last day before his death in 1419. St. Apollinaire Church was modified in the Baroques style in the 17th and later also in the 18th century however shortly afterwards it was rebuilt in the Gothic style by the architect Mocker again.
The maternity clinic
A public maternity clinic was opened in the premises of the former canonry house in 1789. Anonymous childbirths happened here and a foundling asylum was established here, too. We could compare it to the contemporary baby boxes because the women gave their babies away provided they were incable to look after them. However, the maternity clinic did not operate for too long here. The sanitary and other conditions necessary for its existence were insufficient so the new Royal Czech Municipal Maternity Clinic at the Apollinaire was built in 1867.
The interior
We will enter the church now. Here you have the opportunity to see
the gorgeous well-preserved Gothic wall paintings. These fresco paintings date back to the period around 1390. However, a great part of the interior church facilities is not original. They were moved from the Chuch of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great at Karlov to here because the church was closed due to the Josephine reforms.
A curiosity
There is a forty-two meters high church tower raising in the south-western part of the church. There is a bell called „Apollinaire“ hanging in the bell tower weighting nearly two hundred kilos which was made in 1867 in the workshop of Jan Jiří Kühner of the Lesser Town.
Lucie Niebauerová
Address:
Apolinářská 443/10,
Praha 2
Connection:
Tram: 18, 24, 53, 55 – tram stop Botanická zahrada – from here walk upwards along the Apolinářská street
Bus – 291 – Apolinářská
Public transport
Find a connection
GPS: 50°4’14.988″N, 14°25’25.365″E
All about the St. Apollinaire Church
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