Church of Our Lady beneath the Chain, Gothic church in Lesser Town, Prague, Czech Republic
The Church of Our Lady Beneath the Chain is a Roman Catholic monastic church in Lázeňská Street, Malá Strana, Prague. Its western side has a Gothic stone facade with two towers, later lowered, flanking a portico; the towers have steep red-tiled pyramidal roofs with spires and crosses. The portico leads into a courtyard on the site of the original Romanesque basilica, and the Baroque church entrance is on the east side.
The Hospitaller commandery was founded between 1158 and 1169 by King Vladislav I at the foot of the Judith Bridge, and a Romanesque basilica with three naves and a transept rose on the site of today's courtyard by 1182. A Gothic rebuilding began in the 14th century, possibly with funds from the sale of former Templar property; the choir stood by 1378, when the body of Charles IV lay in state there. Hussites burned the church in 1420, and Carlo Lurago led the early Baroque renewal before the mid-17th century.
The name has several explanations: a statue of the Virgin with a chain around its neck, the draw-chain of the Judith Bridge gate, or most likely the chain stretched across the Vltava to collect customs from ships. The nearby street Řetězová ("Chain Street") supports the last version.
The church stands in Lázeňská Street in Prague 1, Malá Strana, entered from the courtyard behind the Gothic facade on Maltézské náměstí. The facade's two lowered towers and portico face the square; the Baroque church entrance is on the east side of the courtyard. The gate grille carries the Maltese cross motif, designed by painter Jiří Binko in the 1950s–60s.
The main altar holds Karel Škréta's painting of the Madonna blessing the knights of the Order before the 1571 Battle of Lepanto, with Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette shown among them. The canvas, made around 1640–1651, was moved here from an older altar of 1651.
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