Near Prague’s city centre, but not quite close enough, St Clement’s church is possibly one of the oldest religious structures in the city. It is more than 1000 years’ old.

St Clement and dedication

The first documented mention of a church on Klimentská street is in a foundation document by the Břevnov Monastery in the year 993¹. It refers to a building there, but whether it was the church or some other religious structure is unclear.

The Catholic religion is full of maritime connections. Some of Jesus’ apostles were fishermen, and the Bible refers to Jesus as a “fisher of men”. St Clement is one such connection, being the patron saint of navigators². He was a Christian martyr and has several miracles to his name. In once case, he was thrown into the sea with an anchor tied around his neck in the Crimea². This helps explain this building’s proximity to the river. What isn’t clear is whether they dedicated the church to a maritime saint, or if they chose the saint first.

This is not the only religious building with a water-based connection. The Rotunda of the finding of the Holy Cross is another one, a little further south along the river.

Usage and history

Over the centuries, St. Clement’s Church experienced various phases of use and neglect¹:

1. 12th century: They built a new Romensque-style church on the site of the previous one. It’s not clear why they needed a new one. Given the Bohemian tradition of starting to build better in brick, this could be why they replaced the old church.
2. 13th century: In 1225, King Přemysl I dedicated it as a monastery church for the nearby Dominican order.
3. 14th century: The Dominicans tired of it within 100 years. They abandoned it for a building within the city walls near the Charles bridge. The Church built the Gothic building which still stands today but didn’t use it as a monastery church.
4. 15th century: Local religious leader Jan Hus started the proto-protestant movement. The parish priest of St Clement’s was a vocal opponent of Hus, so it’s not surprising the church was looted during the Hussite wars in Bohemia. After the war, moderate Hussites took it over and rebuilt it, adorning the interior more than ever.
5. 17th century: They gave up the church in 1621. Catholic priests from the nearby church of St. Peter managed it until 1784. It was then bought by a wealthy local miller by the name of Michalovic, who used it as a granary. Its location close to the river must have been a key deciding factor. 
6. 19th century: The Michalovic family kept using it until 1850. They sold it to a Protestant priest, Bedřich Košut for 27,500 florins, which he raised through a collection. This was after the Thirty Years’ War.

The Thirty Years’ War change European politics forever.

7. 20th century: The Protestants stripped away the granary floors and added a choir and a small chapel. The church escaped further renovation until 1975, when they removed the porch. These renovations lasted until 1981 and were part-funded by foreign churches.

Today, it functions as an Anglican chapel serving English-speaking expats and locals. It hosts regular services and activities like concerts due to its excellent acoustics.

Art and architecture

The original church was Romanesque in style, later refurbished in a Gothic manner. Key features include¹:

• Frescoes in the interior from the Hussite revival in the 14th century. Fragments were re-discovered during a renovation in the 1970s. It’s likely these frescoes depicted the Stations of the Cross.
• A neo-Gothic pulpit, which the Protestants added in the 19th century. They also modified the west portal modified, and installed a new organ. They also removed the late-Gothic buttresses on the exterior of the building.
• An impressive stone-ribbed Gothic vault which dominates the nave. The ribs and buttresses bear the remains of neo-Gothic painting from the end of the 19th century. 

References

1. Anglican Episcopal Church Prague CZ. (2023). The Church at Klimentská 5. [online] Available at: https://anglican.cz/about-us/the-church-at-klimentska-5/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2024][↩][↩][↩]
2. Anglican Episcopal Church Prague CZ. (2023). Who was St. Clement? [online] Available at: https://anglican.cz/who-was-st-clement/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2024][↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.