St. Agnes Monastery in Prague

The male branch of the Poor Clares was later joined by the male convent of the Friars Minor. The monastery is dominated by the church of St. Francis, while the complex also consists of a large monastery wing, a monastery of minorities, a women's church and a monastery kitchen. In addition, in the complex there is also the house of the abbess, the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, Chapel of St. Barbara and the church. St. Salvator.

At the end of the 14th century, the monastery began to fall into disrepair, which lasted until 1556, when it was taken over by the Dominican order, who immediately began the reconstruction of the Convent of the Poor Clares and the Renaissance reconstructions. At the end of the 17th century, however, the monastery was severely damaged by fire and further alterations took place in the Baroque style. During the Josephine reforms, the monastery was abolished. In 1978, it was entered on the list of national cultural monuments.

The monastery building currently houses one of the sections of the National Gallery, so in the premises of the St. Agnes Monastery you can see an exhibition focusing on medieval art in Bohemia and Central Europe, defined between 1200 and 1550.

The arcade from the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, around the heads decorated with preserved portraits of crowned kings and queens, will take you to the sanctuary, the burial ground of the Přemyslids. The crypt of the St. Agnes Monastery became the last resting place, for example, for Přemysl Otakar II. and his wife Kunhuta, for Agnes of Bohemia, Wenceslas II. and his wife Guta and other important rulers and personalities.

Andrea Štyndlová