There are places in the world where every stone, every wall, every column breathes history. This is the church of St. Martin in the wall, which is located in the heart of Prague, in the Old Town. He saw a lot at his age: history returned to him both light and dark side, but the temple survived.
At the end of the XII century, Prague was actively built and grew at the expense of the suburbs. One of them was Ujezd, a small settlement directly opposite Visegrad, on the right bank of the Vltava. The county had a patron saint, St. Martin, and the peasants decided to build a church named after their saint, which happened in 1178. The church was single-nave, in Romanesque style. St. Martin's Church then resembled a fortress. The semicircular vault rested on strong walls and the same columns, and the church could be both a place of communion with God and a place of refuge from enemies.
The county, together with its inhabitants, was donated to the Czech King Sobeslav II and thus became part of Prague.
And in the middle of the XIV century Charles IV decided to build new fortress walls, one of which divided the church of St. Martin into two parts. Researchers and local historians are still debating the reasons for this plan, but the fact remains: one part remained in the Old Town, the other in the New. But the temple survived, although this was not its first transformation. There is only a strange name - St. Martin's Church in the wall.
St. Martin's Church was built in the Romanesque style of early Christian buildings. Initially, it had one nave and a semicircular apse. The nave is an elongated space bounded on two sides by columns. Today one such column in the church has survived, it can be seen.
Under Charles IV, the church was rebuilt in the dominant Gothic style at the time: columns were raised, and a vaulted ceiling was made. The last reconstruction was in the XV century thanks to the merchant family Goltz, who came from Kvetnice. Their coat of arms is still on the facade of the church.
A small room in one of the side naves, a private place of prayer, reminds us of them. Then they raised the church even higher, one and a half meters, made three naves and a ribbed (ribbed) ceiling. This is the end of perestroika.
The church burned down in 1678 and was restored, and baroque details appeared in the decor of the church. The most interesting thing that happened in the church after the fire is a painted wooden ceiling. In scenes from the Old Testament you can see the great-grandmother Eve and the great-grandfather Adam. Eve is naked, Adam is in clothes. In those days, the image of men other than Christ and the saints was only on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, so the artist took great risks in painting these heroes of the Bible. In 1779 the parishioners built an entrance, through which parishioners and guests of the city enter the church today.
Joseph II, the Austrian emperor, personally visited Prague's churches in the late 1970s and ruled that the church was unhealthy and dangerous to stay in.
A warehouse was built in the building of the medieval temple. Dark times began for the church. Then there were shops, in the XIX century - a restaurant, until a man named Camille Gilbert noticed the remains of the same Romanesque column in the restaurant and did not do research. Thanks to him, the church began to be restored. Today it is an evangelical church.
However, the main event associated with the temple is significant for the history of the Hussite movement. In the center of the cathedral is a golden bowl. The Hussites gathered here at a time when members of the movement were being persecuted. Jan of Hradec, who served in the church, for the first time began to give communion to the parishioners with bread and wine. The golden bowl reminds of that. Prior to that, only priests, Jan of Hradec, and the Hussites claimed that all were equal before God. Since then, the Hussites began to be called cupbearers.
In 1909, a memorial plaque made of pink marble with a bronze insert by J. Marzhatka was installed on the wall of the church. She testifies that here, in the cemetery at the church of St. Martin, buried members of the famous family of sculptors - Jan Brokoff (1652-1718) and his sons Michal Jan Brokoff (1686-1721) and the most prominent of them Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff (1688-1731).
At the end of the XII century, Prague was actively built and grew at the expense of the suburbs. One of them was Ujezd, a small settlement directly opposite Visegrad, on the right bank of the Vltava. The county had a patron saint, St. Martin, and the peasants decided to build a church named after their saint, which happened in 1178. The church was single-nave, in Romanesque style. St. Martin's Church then resembled a fortress. The semicircular vault rested on strong walls and the same columns, and the church could be both a place of communion with God and a place of refuge from enemies.
The county, together with its inhabitants, was donated to the Czech King Sobeslav II and thus became part of Prague.
And in the middle of the XIV century Charles IV decided to build new fortress walls, one of which divided the church of St. Martin into two parts. Researchers and local historians are still debating the reasons for this plan, but the fact remains: one part remained in the Old Town, the other in the New. But the temple survived, although this was not its first transformation. There is only a strange name - St. Martin's Church in the wall.
St. Martin's Church was built in the Romanesque style of early Christian buildings. Initially, it had one nave and a semicircular apse. The nave is an elongated space bounded on two sides by columns. Today one such column in the church has survived, it can be seen.
Under Charles IV, the church was rebuilt in the dominant Gothic style at the time: columns were raised, and a vaulted ceiling was made. The last reconstruction was in the XV century thanks to the merchant family Goltz, who came from Kvetnice. Their coat of arms is still on the facade of the church.
A small room in one of the side naves, a private place of prayer, reminds us of them. Then they raised the church even higher, one and a half meters, made three naves and a ribbed (ribbed) ceiling. This is the end of perestroika.
The church burned down in 1678 and was restored, and baroque details appeared in the decor of the church. The most interesting thing that happened in the church after the fire is a painted wooden ceiling. In scenes from the Old Testament you can see the great-grandmother Eve and the great-grandfather Adam. Eve is naked, Adam is in clothes. In those days, the image of men other than Christ and the saints was only on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, so the artist took great risks in painting these heroes of the Bible. In 1779 the parishioners built an entrance, through which parishioners and guests of the city enter the church today.
Joseph II, the Austrian emperor, personally visited Prague's churches in the late 1970s and ruled that the church was unhealthy and dangerous to stay in.
A warehouse was built in the building of the medieval temple. Dark times began for the church. Then there were shops, in the XIX century - a restaurant, until a man named Camille Gilbert noticed the remains of the same Romanesque column in the restaurant and did not do research. Thanks to him, the church began to be restored. Today it is an evangelical church.
However, the main event associated with the temple is significant for the history of the Hussite movement. In the center of the cathedral is a golden bowl. The Hussites gathered here at a time when members of the movement were being persecuted. Jan of Hradec, who served in the church, for the first time began to give communion to the parishioners with bread and wine. The golden bowl reminds of that. Prior to that, only priests, Jan of Hradec, and the Hussites claimed that all were equal before God. Since then, the Hussites began to be called cupbearers.
In 1909, a memorial plaque made of pink marble with a bronze insert by J. Marzhatka was installed on the wall of the church. She testifies that here, in the cemetery at the church of St. Martin, buried members of the famous family of sculptors - Jan Brokoff (1652-1718) and his sons Michal Jan Brokoff (1686-1721) and the most prominent of them Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff (1688-1731).
Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original
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