From St. Stephen to Karlov and into Na Slupi Street

In the ticket hall of I.P. Pavlova metro station a relief of heraldic lions is preserved from the Baroque Gate of St. John (called “the Swine Gate”) which stood until 1894 at the end of Ječná Street. Walking down Ječná Street in the direction of Karlovo Square after about 200 metres we turn right, into V Tůních Street and then left into Na Rybníčku Street. The names of both streets indicate that in this area were rich sources of underground water and legends tell us, that a half clad water nymph sometimes appears here. In the vicinity at one time was a community called Rybníček, which was the starting point from 1348, for probably the oldest Prague water-main. The water ran by gravity into the fountains at the lower level Horse Market and Cattle Market. The parish church of the community was the Romanesque rotunda of St. Štěpán (St. Stephen/Longinus) dating from the 12th century and today standing on the right of the street.

In the extensive cemetery which stretches around the rotunda was until 1844 the octagonal Chapel Of All Saints. Here foreigners were buried and people executed in the New Town. In the 14th century after the foundation of the Church of St. St. ephen, the rotunda was reconsecrated as the Chapel of St. Longinus and it has kept this name untill today. The Church of St. Stephen faces into Štěpánská Street. It was built during Charles IV's reign as the main parish church of the upper new town and later became the church of the Guild of Prague Stonemasons. The sculptor Matyáš Bernard Braun is buried here.

In 1686 on the south side of the church a Baroque chapel was built and on the north side is the Bramberg Chapel dating from 1736 (with a painting of the Last Judgement), which remains from the former cemetery. Inside the church is preserved original Gothic architecture supplemented with a Renaissance organ loft. The altars are decorated with paintings by Karel škréta and Václav Vavřinec Reiner. The Church is significant for the history of Czech music. The director of the choir was Zdeněk Fibich and three great Czech composers Bedřich Smetana with Kateřina Kolářová, Antonín Dvořák with Anna Čermáková and Josef Suk with Dvořák's daughter Otýlie had their weddings had here. Behind the church stands separately a late Gothic belltower dating from 1600-1605.

We walk as far as Ječná Street, after which we enter Lipová Street. In the street after the First World war lived a certain Josef Švejk, working here as a “callouser or pedicurist”. It is not known, if he was the prototype for Hašek's Good Soldier Švejk, but we know that Jaroslav Hašek lived nearby - in the Royal Vinohrady district.

We are approaching the Church of St. Kateřina (St. Katherine), standing at the crossroads of Viničná and Kateřinská Streets. The church was founded by Charles IV in 1354 to commemorate his deliverance and victory at the fierce battle of San Felice, which was fought on the 25 November 1332 - St. Katherine's day. On the site of the original church, rebuilt in the 16th century, a Baroque church was constructed between 1737-1741. A slender, octagonal tower from the reign of Charles IV however has survived. Inside the Church are ceiling paintings by Václav Vavřinec Reiner, depicting scenes from the life of St. Katherine.

The Convent of Augustinian Nuns (No.468/30), was founded in Kateřinská Street at the same time as the church, but after the Hussite Wars it barely survived and in 1565 was turned into a monastery. Between 1718-1730 it was rebuilt in Baroque style, probably by the architect Ferdinand Maximilián Kaňka. The entrance gate with a statue of St. Katherine dates from that time. In 1787 the monastery was dissolved and after 1822 was used as a hospital, initially as an institution for the mentally ill, where in 1884 Bedřich Smetana died. An extensive monastery garden also belongs to the hospital.

From Kateřinská Street we turn right, into Ke Karlovu Street, where on the left we can see a fine example of Baroque architecture - the Michna Belvedere called Amerika (No.462/10). It was built by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer between 1712 and 1720. The sculptural decoration in the garden is by Matyáš Bernard Braun. Nowadays the Museum of Antonín Dvořák is here.

To the left bends Na Bojišti Street. Its name comes from the battle which in 1179 was fought here by the Přemislide Princes Soběslav II and Fridrich. On the site of the battle the small Church of St. John, was built, and later pulled down already during the Hussite Wars. At present the street is well known because of the tavern U Kalicha (At the Chalice) [No.1733/12], made famous by Hašek's novel about Švejk.

We continue further through Ke Karlovu Street as far as the Baroque Palace of Voračický of Paběnice (No.460/11), nowadays a part of the psychiatric clinic. Next to it we turn right, into Apolinářská Street. We pass by a noteable building by Josef Hlávka - the neo-Gothic Zemská porodnice (County Maternity Hospital) [No.441/18] - to reach the crossroads with Viničná Street. Here opposite the statue of St. Vojtěch (St. Adalbert) at the end of the church, was the well known Poison Hut, which was refered to in the chapter about Prague taverns.

A little lower down on the left is the Church of St. Apollinarius at Větrov, a one nave Gothic building with frescos from the 14th century, founded by Charles IV for the capitula (a body of clerics) transferred here from Sadská Street. In the church, by coincidence near the County Maternity Hospital, is the miraculous picture dating from 1697, of the Virgin Mary of Karlov (Virgin Mary “In hope”), patron saint of pregnant women.

From the church we return to Ke Karlovu Street. We will pass by the former neo-Gothic merchants hospital (No.458/4) on the left and around the Baroque house U stříbrného melounu (At the Silver Melon) [No.457/7] on the right as far as the buildings of the Augustinian Monastery (No.453/1) with the Church of Our Lady and Charlemagne.

The monastery, called “Na Karlově”, was founded in 1350 on a knoll near the town walls by Charles IV and he dedicated it to his patron saint, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, whose relics (three teeth) he had inlaid into the main altar. The church was loosely based in style on the central burial chapel of Charlemagne at Aix-la Chapelle (Aachen) and already from the beginning astonished viewers with its bold vaulting, created according to legend by an architect who made a pact with the devil. Between 1708-1709, a Chapel of the Holy St. eps, with 28 rungs resembling the steps which Christ climbed to Pilot's house, was added to the church .Located underneath is the Chapel of Christ's Birth in the shape of a grotto. Opposite the church stands the new house of prelates, built between 1716-1724 by František Maximilián Kaňka.

After the visit to the church we descend via Horská Street, lined on the left by Gothic fortifications from the New Town, into Na Slupi Street in front of the small Gothic Church of the Zvěstování Panny Marie Na Trávníčku (Annunciation to Our Lady on the Lawn). This tiny building with a slender tower and a square nave vaulted to one pillar, is among the best examples of Gothic construction from the time of Charles IV and Vladislav Jagellon. We notice that the tower leans because it was built on unstable, sandy foundations. By the Church, the Monastery of the Servites (No.450/4) was active until it was dissolved in 1785.

Through Na Slupi Street we reach the Monastery and Hospital of St. Alžběta (St. Elizabeth) [No.448/6] by the Church of the Suffering Virgin Mary. The Church was built between 1724-1725, designed by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer. In the monastery garden, on the site of the former cemetery, is the Chapel of St. Barbara.

A few steps further on, we enter the Botanická zahrada (Botanical Gardens) of Charles University, in whose refreshing surroundings we end our walk through the New Town.

Walking Tour Route Map

Where to start from

Take the tram or the metro line C to the I. P. Pavlova station.