Church of St. Martin in the wall of Prague
Church of St. Martin in the Wall, located in the Old Town of Prague, stands in the shadow of notorious Prague monuments, such as Prague Castle or Tyn Cathedral, but it is a very important religious monument, dating from 1178, when its construction began.
Information for visitors
Interesting facts Church of St. Martin in the wall of Prague
The name directly encourages the idea of a kind of walled Martin, but this is definitely not the case. The name of the church derives from its location, closely touching the fortification wall and the city gate, called the gate of St. Martina.
This church is an important example of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. He managed to keep himself in a virtually intact form. Its construction took place between 1178 and 1187 and a location in the settlement of Újezd was chosen for it, which was later divided into the New and Old Towns of Prague. It happened during the 13th century and today you would find this important Prague church near Národní třída.
The core of the church is Romanesque, and during the reign of Charles IV. it was gothically modified and rebuilt. In the second half of the 14th century, its presbytery received a rib vault, which is one of the oldest rib vaults in our country. Their consoles are decorated with stars, roses and various masks.
The current appearance of the church comes from the late Gothic reconstruction completed in 1488. Later, however, the upper tower had to be rebuilt, as a result of a fire that caught the church in 1678. In 1784, the church of St. Martin in the wall abolished and served as a warehouse, shops and apartments.
After the end of the First World War, the Czech Brethren Evangelical Church rented the church for a long time.
There used to be a cemetery in the vicinity of the church, in which members of the Brokof family were also buried, whose memorial plaque has been preserved here together with some other original tombstones.
Author: Andrea Štyndlová