Church of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Romanesque church in Hostivař, Czech Republic.
The Church of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist has a rectangular nave measuring 17.80 by 9.20 metres, with walls about 120 cm thick, and a Romanesque semicircular apse at the east end. A western entrance block and a northern sacristy were added later; the north wall holds an early Gothic portal with a Renaissance relief of a woman and child.
The church's core, with its Romanesque apse, likely dates from a 13th-century rebuilding, though some sources place it in the 11th century; the Sázava Monastery initiated the work. The parish is first documented in 1352, and the building took its present Classicist form around 1800.
The church is dedicated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, its patron shown in the 13th-century wall painting in the Romanesque apse. Mass is held every weekday at 18:00, Saturday at 8:00, and Sunday at 8:00 and 11:00, with midnight Mass on 24 December at 22:00.
The church stands on a small square on Domkářská street in Prague 15-Hostivař, with the separate wooden bell tower beside it on the site of the former churchyard. Mass is held on weekday evenings at 18:00, Saturdays at 8:00 and Sundays at 8:00 and 11:00, with Midnight Mass at 22:00 on 24 December.
The 13th-century wall painting in the Romanesque apse shows God the Father enthroned inside a circle, with the crucified Christ on a cross before him, flanked by Saint John the Baptist, a bishop with a pallium (likely Saint Adalbert), Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the apostles Peter and Paul. The lower apse depicts scenes of the Nativity of Christ.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,320 contributors worldwide.