St. John of Nepomuk on the rock
The Church of St. John of Nepomuk on the Rock ( Kostel sv. Jana Nepomuckého na Skalce ) is a church building in the Czech capital, Prague . It is one of the monastery and collegiate churches in the New Town of Prague . Due to its exposed location and its impressive front with a flight of stairs and a pair of twin towers, it has a high recognition value.
Exterior view
The high baroque church with its two distinctive, corner-set towers on the west side was built in 1730–1739 according to plans by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer on behalf of the Johannes von Nepomuk Brotherhood. Johann Schmidt added the double-run, multiple broken ramp stairs between 1776 and 1778, which are no longer accessible today due to the need for renovation. Instead, you enter the church through the north portal, to which a path leads across the elongated churchyard, which extends the church front with its sandstone wall and balustrade along the street. A baroque archway closes off the area from Karlsplatz .
Interior decoration
The church floor plan is octagonal with concave sides, extended in the longitudinal axis. Frescoes on the ceiling by Jan Karel Kovář from 1748 show the glorification of St. John of Nepomuk (central structure), the Descent from the Cross (choir) and the Holy Trinity (apse).
On the main altar of the church there has been a gilded wooden statue of St. John, made in 1682 by Johann Brokoff in Ronsperg after a smaller model by Matthias Rauchmüller Johannes von Nepomuk , which served as a model for the metal Nepomuk statue on the Charles Bridge and thus also for numerous Nepomuk representations on bridges in Bavaria and Bohemia . To the left and right of the Nepomuk statue are statues of St. Ludmilla and St. Wenceslaus .
Two baroque side altars, each with an altar painting and a pair of saints left and right, frame the view of the choir. The octagonal pulpit with a sound cover is decorated with the gilded attributes of the four evangelists.
Others
The interior of the church was partially renovated in 2005/2006 (e.g. St. Nepomuk statue). The church is currently used all year round by the German-speaking Catholic community in Prague for Holy Mass on Sunday (11 am), to which Prague visitors are cordially invited; otherwise the church is not generally accessible.
photos
Gable detail
Lateral front view
Stone figure of the outside staircase (left)
Entrance gate from Karlsplatz to the churchyard
literature
- Prague: churches, chapels, synagogues. ASCO, Prague 1992. ISBN 80-85377-16-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Isabel Heitjan: The "miracle" Johann von Nepomuk 1744 in Prague. In: Börsenblatt for the German book trade - Frankfurt edition. No. 89, November 5, 1968 (= Archive for the History of Books. Volume 62), pp. 2863–2868, here: pp. 2866 f.
Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 20.3 " N , 14 ° 25 ′ 6.8" E