Convent of St. Agnes, Prague

The Convent of St. Agnes in Prague is one of the oldest monasteries in Europe, located in the northeastern part of the Jewish quarter Josefov. It is also the oldest Gothic building in the whole of Bohemia. The Convent of St. Agnes was founded by St. Agnes of Bohemia, sister of King Wenceslaus I and daughter of Otakar I, between 1231 and 1234, and its actual construction continued until 1280. The monastery enjoyed its heyday and success until the Hussite Wars.

During this time it was ruled by various orders until Princess Agnes was an important 13th century spiritual figure who succeeded in founding the Czech religious order, the Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Star of the Red. She devoted her whole life to helping poor and sick people. Agnes was declared a saint in 1870 and canonized in 1989.

The Convent of St. Agnes is a complex of two buildings, the Convent of the Order of Poor Ladies and the Franciscan Convent. The former is the oldest brick building preserved in Prague.

The monastery of St. Agnes has two Gothic churches - St. St. Spas and St. Francis. St. Spas Church was built for the nuns of the monastery. Its entrance is a triumphal arch, which is decorated with statues of the heads of kings and queens. The royal tombs of Wenceslaus I and St. Agnes were laid in this church, but hers has never been found. Owing to their long use as storehouses they were much ruined, but great pains have been taken, and today they have been completely restored, their galleries rebuilt. The choirs of the two churches date back to the 13th century and are situated side by side. In 1986, St. Francis took on a new role and was converted into a concert hall and part of the monastery into an art gallery.

During the Hussite wars in the 15th century, the nuns had to leave St. Agnes and the monastery's space was reduced until finally the religious house was permanently closed by Emperor Joseph II in the 18th century and devastated in the following years. What was left of the monastery complex was used for warehouses, and there were also rooms for work and housing for the poor citizens of Prague.

"St. Agnes" was restored in the 20th century and the medieval section of the National Gallery of Prague was moved into the monastery after it was rearranged. The collection represents one of the richest collections of medieval art in Central Europe - paintings on wood, figures of the Virgin Mary, Gothic altarpieces and entire picture cycles.

"St. Agnes" is one of the many places in Prague that has its own legend. It tells that one of the nuns was murdered by her own father, who found out that she was in love with a poor young man. He cast a spell on her for the shame she caused their family and told her that there would be no peace and quiet as long as the convent existed. The ghost of the girl walks around the Convent of St. Agnes dressed in bloody clothes. It is believed that her spirit is still on earth to help the unfortunate in love.