Kostel Panny Marie Sedmibolestné Na Slupi, Baroque church in New Town, Prague, Czech Republic
Kostel Panny Marie Sedmibolestné Na Slupi is a single-nave Baroque church with a small tower in its facade, built in 1724–1725 to a design by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. Its two-storey west front has a portal bearing the coat of arms of Countess Marie Markéta of Valdštejn, a casula window and a Doric entablature with a triangular pediment. A shallow presbytery adjoins the two-bay nave, and the Chapel of St Thecla stands to the left of the facade.
The church was built from 1724 to 1725 to a design by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer for the convent and hospital of the Elisabethine nuns, whose order Countess L. Schönkirchová brought to Prague in 1719 and who raised the funds for construction. It was consecrated in 1725, and the Chapel of St Thecla was added beside the facade in 1762.
The church serves as a spiritual center for the local Catholic community and remains connected to the adjoining convent complex. This arrangement reflects how religious communities traditionally combined prayer, care, and service in one physical space.
The church stands at Na Slupi 6 in Prague's New Town, south of the Charles University botanical garden, not in the Old Town. It is heated in winter and has served the German-speaking Catholic community for Sunday Mass; tourists may enter during service times.
What sets this church apart is its original dual function as a space designed for both spiritual worship and patient care. This combination reveals how baroque churches were often integrated into broader social institutions rather than standing alone.
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