New Town of Prague: Churches Founded by Charles IV ****************************************************************************************** * New Town of Prague: Churches Founded by Charles IV ****************************************************************************************** On Saturday 14th May 2016 it was exactly 700 years since the birth of Charles IV, the Bohe Roman emperor, who founded Charles University in Prague on 7th April 1348. In the spring o Charles IV also published the foundation charter (8th March 1348) and laid the first stone the new city of Prague (26th March 1348). This new settlement, which until today is known of Prague, was established alongside Vltava River’s right bank between Vyšehrad and the Ol and further alongside the city wall of the Old Town of Prague where the Old Town occupied The locations closer to the walls of the Old Town had already been inhabited, and other lo newly laid settlement previously had only sparse populations. After the foundation of the were partly used as meadows and vineyards. The New Town of Prague was planned to inhabit approximately 50,000 people who were suppose around 5,000 houses at the area of about 250 hectares (620 acres); this area was more than of the Old Town. The richest houses were supposed to be built in the prominent positions a of the new settlement (in particular the two largest squares, known today as Wenceslas Squ náměstí and Charles Square/Karlovo náměstí; in the past they were called Horse Market and respectively). In just two years the whole area was surrounded by city walls 3.5 km long, meters high, 3-5 meters wide and had 21 towers and 4 gates. Unlike the Old Town, no wall w the Vltava River, since free access to the river had to be ensured. Most of the walls were in late 19th century, but remains can be found in the valley between Karlov and Vyšehrad. enough, the New Town was not entirely finished until the 19th century – Charles IV’s ideas been extremely ambitious! In the Middle Ages church and monastery foundations were necessary parts of each new settl also the case with the New Town of Prague. Charles IV founded several churches and monaste the consecrations of which followed his aspirations and general political concept. The lar churches was supposed to be the church of Our Lady of the Snows, part of the adjoined mona the first establishment of the Carmelite monks in Bohemia. The church had never been finis now known by its completed presbytery only. By its consecration, the church was connected ancient Marian basilica, Santa Maria Maggiore. The monks were donated wood from the podium Charles’ coronation banquet took place in 1347 for the construction of the church. While the church of Our Lady of the Snows was reminiscent of Rome, the ideal centre of the Empire, the octagonal church of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. Charles the Great (Char Karlov, just next to today’s Nusle Bridge, was intended to reflect Charles’s coronation as Romans in Aachen (today’s Western Germany) in July 1349. Prague is one of the few places a and Frankfurt am Main which consider Charlemagne a saint. Another important church was founded by Charles IV in Vyšehrad, the Basilica of St. Peter was built in a place of an older, Romanesque style church. Based on Charles’s Coronation O king of Bohemia was supposed to spend his last night before the coronation in St. Vitus Ca Castle in Vyšehrad, where, based on legends, the first Bohemian dukes resided and which al an ancient collegiate chapter. The church was rebuilt in Baroque era and once again in 188 Gothic style. The Emmaus Monastery located close to today’s Charles Square served to underline the heirl Moravia, the early medieval state which had preceded the Kingdom of Bohemia and existed un Benedictine monks in Emmaus were of Slavic rite which had first been introduced in Great M later adopted in Balkan countries. The cloister of the monastery was adorned with 85 Gothi with parallels from the Old and New Testament in 1360s, many of which have luckily survive Charles IV also founded another two new parish churches in the New Town of Prague. One was St. Stephen, one of the first Christian martyrs who was greatly admired by Charles IV. The as St. Henry and Cunigunde Church; the two saints were emperor and empress of the Holy Rom after the year 1000. Another church Charles IV founded in the area of the New Town of Prague was dedicated to S Alexandria, the king’s and emperor’s favourite saint. Charles IV believed St. Catherine en in the battle below the castle San Felice in today’s Italy in 1332. The church was origina a convent of Augustinian Hermitesses and nowadays is hidden in the park surrounding the Ne Psychiatric Clinics of the First Faculty of Medicine of CU. It had served the Orthodox Chu years now but it had previously been used as a museum depository. While the Church of St. Catherine had been rebuilt in the Baroque time and the last remind medieval origins is now its tower, the nearby St. Apollinaris Church, once a seat of the c of St. Apollinaris, has preserved much of its medieval spirit until today thanks to the we medieval frescos rediscovered in the late 19th century. The church’s design reflects of th Ravenna, which had once been seat of the Roman Emperors. St. Apollinaris was the first bis The main church in Ravenna, the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, was consecrated to him The last of Charles’s preserved church foundations in the area of the New Town of Prague i the Annunciation of Our Lady on the Lawn, known also as Our Lady in Slupy (Slupy is the na which might have originated from the single column, “sloup” in Czech, to which the church church was part of the first Servite monastery in Bohemia. The Servites, also called Serva tasked with spreading out the honour of Mary, the Mother of God. Similarly to St. Catherin is also used today by the Orthodox Church; the rest of the aforementioned churches belong Church. During the weekend 14th-15th May 2016, these churches were all open to the public by the o the 700th anniversary of birth of their founder, Charles IV, in cooperation with Charles U in Prague, the Archbishopric of Prague and the Town Hall of Prague 2. On each hour (exclud religious services) a guided tour was offered to pre-registered visitors, or even (if ther places) interested passers-by, by the students of the History of Christian Art at the Cath Faculty of Charles University in Prague, attracting around 20 visitors for each tour in al churches, most of which are otherwise closed to the public except for religious services. reactions of the visitors I was able to speak to, the event was well received and much val a worthy gift for Charles IV’s anniversary to both the king and emperor himself as well as inhabitants of his residential city Prague! Will Chamberlain studies BA History at the University of Essex, UK, and is currently study enjoys travel, sport, history, and experiencing new cultures. As well as this, he enjoys w to gain experience and improve his skills in journalism, as well as meet other aspiring wr