Église Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue de Prague, Gothic Revival church in Holešovice, Prague, Czech Republic
The église Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue de Prague is a Neo-Gothic church in the Holešovice district of Prague, with two towers on its facade that recall the outline of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn. The building has pointed arches, a central nave, and side aisles, all built in the early 20th century.
Construction began in 1908 and the building was finished in 1911, though the consecration by Cardinal Archbishop Lev Skrbenský took place three years later, in 1914. The church was built to serve a working-class district that had grown quickly during Prague's industrial expansion.
The church houses a Czech nativity scene with figurines dressed in the folk clothing of the Chod region, a historical community from western Bohemia. This display shows how a religious space can carry local craft traditions that have little to do with the building itself.
The two towers make the building easy to find from the surrounding streets, so no special navigation is needed. As with most working parishes, a visit outside of service hours gives more freedom to look around inside.
During World War I, almost all the church bells were melted down for military use, leaving only a small death knell of around 40 kilograms. That bell is still in the building today, and its survival stands as a quiet record of what the war demanded even from places of worship.
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