Chapel of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Religious chapel in Břeclav, Czech Republic
The Chapel of Saints Cyril and Methodius is a neo-Gothic chapel built in 1856 in the park in front of Břeclav's main railway station. It was designed by Jan Heidrich and built at the wish of Prince Alois II of Liechtenstein; side chapels were added in 1910–1911 under Prince Johann II.
Prince Alois II of Liechtenstein had the chapel built as thanks for recovery from a serious illness. Construction began in 1853 to a design by Jan Heidrich, and the chapel was consecrated on 15 September 1856, serving mainly employees of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway. In 1910 Prince Johann II initiated an enlargement with side chapels, reconsecrated on 12 November 1911 by local priest František Sedláček. After the town's main church of St Wenceslas was destroyed in World War II, the chapel served as a temporary place of worship until the new church opened in 1995.
The chapel is named after Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionaries who brought Christianity to the Slavs. It was consecrated on 15 September 1856 and served as Břeclav's provisional place of worship after the town church of St Wenceslas was destroyed in the Second World War, until the new church opened in 1995.
The chapel stands in the park directly in front of Břeclav's main railway station, a short walk from the town centre. It is a single small building, so allow only a few minutes for the visit; it is a cultural monument rather than a staffed museum.
The chapel roof was declared a European Important Site (Břeclav – kaple u nádraží) to protect a roost of the greater mouse-eared bat. The colony lives in the roof space of this 1856 building, so the protected area is the attic rather than the interior open to visitors.
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