The Church of St. Lawrence (Katedrální chrám sv. Vavřince) is a Baroque cathedral in Prague, which is protected as a cultural monument and used by the Old Catholic Church as a cathedral.
The Way of the Cross leads to the cathedral.
St. Lawrence Cathedral is located in the garden on Petrin hill (Petřín).
view of the cathedral from the observation deck nearby Petrin tower (Petřínská rozhledna).
The church acquired its present appearance in 1739-1745 during the reconstruction in the Baroque style designed by Kilian Ignak Dinzengofer, builder Jan Ignaz Palliardi. The church was built on the site of a Romanesque church, the oldest mention of which dates back to 1135.
This cathedral is located at the place where, according to legend, the pagan Czechs sacrificed sacred fires to their gods, and where Princess Libushe predicted the future growth of Prague's glory. Legend also says that Prince Boleslav II here, at the request of the saint At Voytech, built a church dedicated to Saint Lawrence, a deacon who was tortured on a red-hot grate in 258 in Rome.
The building was conceived as a place of pilgrimage, to which there were a total of 14 stops on the Way of the Cross, as well as the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre and the Calvary Chapel.
Since 1995, the church has been used as a cathedral by the Old Catholic Church.
In the baroque appearance of the church, three-dimensional sculptures and three towering towers attract attention, two external ones with a height of 24.5 meters, and the middle tower with a dome almost 23 meters high.
In the interior of the cathedral there is an altarpiece of the Passion of St. Lawrence, the work of the Burgundian artist Jean-Claude Monnot.
The Way of the Cross on Petrin
An integral part of St. Lawrence Cathedral is the Petrshinsky Way of the Cross, created in 1735 together with the chapel on Golgotha and the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre.
The way of the cross includes
14 niche chapels with Tuscan edicts, paintings and triangular pediments with crosses, standing along the upper part of the road from Malaya Strana to the Church of St. Lawrence. Chapels (stations of the Cross):
- I, Pilate sentences Jesus to death. The donor of the chapel: Bishop Bartholomew Hille of Litomerzhitsky;
- II, Jesus takes the cross. The donor of the chapel: Bishop Karel Hanl Hradec Kralove;
- III, Jesus falls under the cross. The donor of the chapel: Abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Brzhevnov Placid Benes;
- IV, Jesus meets his dear mother. The donor of the chapel: Archbishop of Prague Count Ondrej Skarbek Ankvich;
- V, Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross. The donor of the chapel: Prince Ferdinand Lobkovichsky;
- VI, Veronica hands Jesus clothes. The donor of the chapel: Estate Committee of the Kingdom of the Czech Republic;
- VII, Jesus falls under the cross for the second time. The donor of the chapel: the abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery in the Heat, Adolf Koppmann;
- VIII, The daughters of Jerusalem mourn for Jesus. The donor of the chapel: The Holy Bishop Canon of the Chapter of St. Vita Frantisek Tipmann;
- IX, Jesus falls under the cross for the third time. The donor of the chapel: the rector of the Chapter of St. Vita Jan Medlin;
- Х, Jesus tears the vestments. Donor Chapel: the village of the royal capital of Prague;
- XI, they nail Jesus to the cross. Donor Chapel: the village of the royal capital of Prague;
- XII, Jesus dies on the cross. Donor Chapel: the village of the royal capital of Prague;
- XIII, The body of Jesus lies on Mary's lap. The donor of the chapel: Karl-Ferdinand University and three gymnasiums in Prague at that time: academic (Czech), German gymnasium on Malaya Strana and gymnasium of the New Town near Piarist;
- XIV, They put the body of Jesus in the tomb. The donor of the chapel: Christian Graf Waldstein.
The Chapel on Calvary (Kaple Kalvárie) is located east of the Church of St. Lawrence. It was built after 1735. The facade of the chapel is decorated with a graffiti of the Resurrection of the Lord on the cardboard of Mikolash Alsh.
The Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre (Kaple Božího hrobu) is located near the church and was built in 1738 as the last stop at the first Stations of the Cross.
Practical information
Address of St. Lawrence Church: Petřínské sady 342/14, 118 00 Praha 1 - Malá Strana.
Coordinates of St. Lawrence Church: 50°04'58.9"N 14°23'46.0"E (50.083022, 14.396114)
Website: katedralni-chram-sv-vavrince.
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