Church of Saint Bartholomew, Baroque church in Old Town, Czech Republic
The Church of Saint Bartholomew is a baroque building in Old Town that displays curved walls and spatial arrangements creating dynamic interior volumes. The floor plan shows an inventive design departing from traditional church layouts, with elements positioned to guide movement and focus through the worship space.
The church was built between 1726 and 1731 to Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer's design for the Jesuits, on the site of a chapel that burned in a 1678 fire. It was consecrated in 1731, but after the Jesuit order was dissolved in 1773 it passed to the state. From 1853 to 1949 the Grey Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis held it; confiscated after the communist coup, it served as a warehouse and was returned to them in 1995.
The name honors Saint Bartholomew, and the church formed part of a Jesuit complex that once shaped religious life in Old Town. Visitors today experience the space as a reminder of Catholic renewal in Prague following periods of religious upheaval.
The plain street facade on Bartolomějská Street gives little away; the sculpted courtyard facade with statues of the twelve apostles, Christ and the Virgin Mary by Matěj Václav Jäckl's workshop is reached through the ČVUT transport faculty building from Konviktská Street. The interior sits on an irregular plan, so expect a compact space rather than a long nave.
The building displays features of Radical Baroque, a style that experimented with inventive spatial concepts. This approach was unusual for its time and makes it an important example of this particular architectural direction.
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