Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHTS
CONVENT OF ST AGNES
OFFLINE MAP
In the northeastern corner of Staré Město is the former Convent of St Agnes,
Prague's oldest surviving Gothic building. The 1st-floor rooms hold the National
Gallery's permanent collection of medieval and early Renaissance art
(1200-1550) from Bohemia and Central Europe, a treasure house of glowing
Gothic altar paintings and polychrome religious sculptures.
In 1234 the Franciscan Order of the Poor Clares was founded by Přemysl king
Wenceslas I, who made his sister Anežka (Agnes) the first abbess of the con-
vent. Agnes was beatified in the 19th century; Pope John Paul II canonised her
as St Agnes of Bohemia just weeks before the revolutionary events of Novem-
ber 1989.
In the 16th century the convent was handed over to the Dominicans, and after
Joseph II dissolved the monasteries it became a squatters' paradise. The com-
plex was restored in the 1980s. In addition to the art gallery and the 13th-century
cloister, you can visit the French Gothic
Church of the Holy Saviour
(
OFFLINE
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
), which contains the tombs of St Agnes and of Wenceslas I's
Queen Cunegund. Alongside this is the
Church of St Francis
(
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
)
, where Wenceslas I is buried; part of its ruined nave now serves
as a chilly concert hall.
DON'T MISS...
»
Gothic altarpieces painted by medieval masters
»
Church of the Holy Saviour
PRACTICALITIES
»
Klášter sv Anežky
