Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Vlašská kaple (Italian Chapel)
Karlova 1 • Open during services, concerts and exhibitions • Metro Staroměstská
At the first wiggle in Karlova, you come to the Vlašská kaple , which served the community
ofItalianmasons,sculptorsandpainterswhosettledinPragueduringtheRenaissanceperiod,
and is still, strictly speaking, the property of the Italian state. The present Vlašská kaple is
a tiny oval Baroque chapel completed in 1600; sadly it's rarely open except during services
and for the occasional exhibition and concert.
Sv Kliment
Karlova 1 • Open during services only • Metro Staroměstská
The churchofsvKliment , next to the Vlašská kaple and accessible from the same portal, is
a minor gem of Prague Baroque by Dientzenhofer, with statues by Braun, a spectacular set
of frescoes depicting the life of St Clement (whose martyrdom involved being lashed to an
anchorandhurledintotheBlackSea).Theunusualspikygoldeniconostasiswasaddedinthe
1980s by its owners since the late 1960s, the Greek Catholic church, who observe Orthodox
rites but belong to the Roman Catholic church. Services are held mornings and evenings in
Ukrainian and Old Church Slavonic.
U zlatého hada (The Golden Serpent)
Liliova 17 • Metro Staroměstská
OntheoppositesideofKarlovatoVlašskákapleandsvKliment,atthejunctionwithLiliová,
theformercafé Uzlatéhohada iswheretheArmenian Deomatus Damajan openedthecity's
first coffeehouse in 1708. According to legend, the café was always full, not least because
Damajan had a red-wine fountain inside. It is now a café-restaurant, though sadly minus the
fountain and original furnishings.
< Back to Staré Město
Klementinum
Křižovnická 190 • Daily 6am-11pm; 50min tours of the interior daily 10am-6pm • 220Kč • 222 220 879,
klementinum.com • Metro Staroměstská
As they stroll down Karlova, few tourists notice the Klementinum , the vast former Jesuit
College on the north side of the street. In 1556, Ferdinand I summoned the Jesuits to Prague
to help bolster the Catholic cause in Bohemia, handing them the church of sv Kliment
which Dientzenhofer later rebuilt. Initially, the Jesuits proceeded with caution, but once the
Counter-Reformation set in, they were put in control of the entire university and provincial
education system. From their secure base at sv Kliment, they began to establish space for a
great Catholic seat of learning in the city by buying up the surrounding land, demolishing
more than thirty old town houses and eventually occupying an area second in size only to the
 
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