Prague City Line » St. Michael´s Church in Kinský Garden

St. Michael´s Church in Kinský Garden

It is hard to believe that there is a genuine wooden orthodox church on the Petřín slope.. Let´s transfer to Kinský Garden where the church is to be found. This otrhodox church was several times in its history decomposed and transferred and we will tell you where and why.

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Introduction
The all-wood orthodox church was built in the village Velké Loučky near Mukachevo in Ukraine in the second half of the 17th century. It is familiar as St. Michael´s Church however it is frequently referred to as Carpathian Church of the Holy Archgangel Michael. In 1929 it was in Ukraine cut into small parts and moved to Prague. There in Kinský Garden it was re-composed and gained its original appearance.

What does the church look like?
The church carries the elements of the Rustic Baroque with typical structuring of the church layout into three squared timber parts with timber towers and their roofs covered by shingles. The whole construction is about fourteen meters high and eight meters wide. There is a space below the highest tower which is determined exclusively for women and it reaches seventeen meters high. That explains the origin of the popular name „babinec“ (for ladies monly). More towers are located above the main aisle and above the choir. The whole interior is decorated by colours typical for the orthodox faith – white, green and red which represent faith, hope and love.

The church moved several times
As mentioned above the church comes from Ukraine where it was cut into pieces and moved to Prague. It faced the same destiny a bit earlier already, namely in 1793. In that year it was sold from Velké Loučky to a bigger and richer village from where the construction was donated to Prague in 1929. The decomposed church was loaded into four specially modified carriages.

Current use:
Since 2008 the wooden church has been used by the Orthodox Church in Bohemia and Slovakia which holds here liturgies every Sunday and Monday.

Address:
Petřín – Kinského zahrada (Kinský Garden), Praha 5

Connection:
Bus: 176, 510 – Kobrova (pass along the Kinský Summer Palace and walk on the left side towards the church)
Tram: 6, 9, 12, 20, 58, 59 – Švandovo divadlo (there is an entrance to Kinský Garden close to the the traffic lights, walk towards the Summer Palace and you will see the church soon)
Metro: B – line, Anděl station (from here by tram No.12 or 20 to Švandovo divadlo station)

GPS: 50°4’41.88″N, 14°23’53.88″E

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