St. Mary and Charlemagne
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The Karlshof ( Karlov ) with the church of St. Mary of the Assumption and Emperor Charlemagne ( Kostel Nanebevzetí panny Marie a Karla Velikého ), which belongs to the former Augustinian monastery, are located in the Czech capital Prague .
history
The Karlshof was founded on the highest point in the southeast of Prague's New Town , where the Prague city wall with the painter's tower and a small gate bent to the west. Emperor Charles IV built a third castle-like complex here next to the Hradschin in the west and the Vyšehrad in the south.
In 1350 Charles IV settled here Augustinian canons from France . The church construction began around 1354. In 1377 the church was consecrated by Archbishop Jan Očko of Vlašim in the presence of Charles IV and his son Wenceslaus IV, Charlemagne and the Assumption of Mary; Charles IV gave the monastery three (alleged) teeth of Charlemagne as valuable relics .
The Aachen Palatine Chapel , built under Charlemagne, is also dedicated to Mary , the mother of God , to which the church's floor plan - an octagon with a short polygonal choir - is connected (however, the dedication of the Virgin Mary was possibly only made in connection with the entry of the vault around 1498 ). The outstanding importance of the church is also evident from the creation of a central building, while the Gothic generally preferred longitudinal buildings.
Today only the outer walls date from the time of Charles IV, as construction stalled after Charles' death.
The monumental star rib vault with a diameter of around 23 m was only drawn in in 1575 by the court architect Bonifaz Wohlmut , before that the church may have had a central pillar or, according to another theoretical reconstruction of the original vault, four pillars.
After the church had developed into a pilgrimage church at the beginning of the 18th century and was partially destroyed by Prussian bombardment in the Battle of Prague in the Seven Years' War , numerous Baroque modifications and additions were made, with the original high tent roof being replaced by a dome has been. In 1708 a "Holy Staircase" was built on the south side, a free imitation of the Scala Santa of the Lateran Palace, in which the middle section of the stairs was only accessible on knees. Below is the Nativity Chapel with illusionistic wall stucco, which reproduces the grotto in Bethlehem . The baroque style, in which the choir and the two side balconies were rebuilt, was completed by Franz Maximilian Kaňka in 1733–1738 .
Until the 1850s, the entire interior was designed uniformly and new altars were built. In 1872 the church was partially re- Gothicized and received a new main altar.
The monastery buildings also go back to the 14th century. The Gothic cloister was laid out in the west. The old sacristy, also located in the axis, served as a connection to the church, above which a choir gallery and a small bell tower rose. Today, only the Gothic south wing with high-rise arcades has been preserved, the left part, the old prelature, was redesigned in baroque style by Giovanni Domenico Orsi de Orsini from 1660 to 1668 . Franz Maximilian Kaňka added the New Prelature in 1716–1729.
Today, the Ministry of the Interior runs the Police Museum of the Czech Republic in the former enclosure .
symbolism
Five churches built by Charles IV in Nové Město , Prague's New Town, form a regular cross on the map. An arm is the connection between the churches of St. Catherine of Alexandria in the northeast and St. Mary on the lawn (Kostel P. Marie Na trávníčku) and St. Mary on the pillar (Kostel na slupi) in the southwest; the other arm of the cross is the line between the churches of the Emmaus monastery in the northwest and the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Charlemagne in the southeast. The crossing point is the collegiate church of St. Apollinaris (Kostel svatého Apolináře).
One of the devil's legends that was frequent in the Middle Ages also relates to the Assumption of St. Mary: The builder of the vault made a pact with the devil, but then he was afraid that the vault might collapse. He set fire to the scaffolding and hanged himself. The devil loyal to the treaty took his soul, but did not let the dome collapse.
Remarks
- ↑ According to other information, 1351
- ↑ Pavel Vlček et al.: Encyklopedie českých klášterů (Encyclopedia of Czech Monasteries), Libri Publishing House, Prague 1997, ISBN 80-85983-17-6 , pp. 565-569.
- ^ Vilém Lorenc: Nové Město Pražské (The New Town of Prague). SNTL, 1973, p. 73
- ↑ Alois Jirásek: Staré pověsti české (Old Czech Legends: Old Prague). Prague, Státní nakladatelství, 1936, volume I.
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 7 " N , 14 ° 25 ′ 43" E