Login

St. Nicholas Church

Greatest Example of Prague Baroque

Situated in Prague's Lesser Town Square, the St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana) is a fine example of Baroque architecture, with its 79-meter-tall bell tower and dome. The church hall is covered with ornate decorations and statues, and numerous frescoes covering the ceiling and dome, mostly created in the 18th century.

Prague has two St. Nicholas Churches, one is located in the Old Town Square to the east side of Charles Bridge, and the other is located in the Lesser Town Square not far from the west side of the bridge.

The St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana, or Lesser Town) was built in 1704 by three members from the Dientzenhofer family, and in 1737 Killian Dientzenhofer took over the church from his deceased father and built the choir and the dome. After Killian’s death in 1751, his son-in-law and apprentice completed the construction of the bell tower. All three of them are well-known for their baroque-style design, which makes the St. Nicholas Church in Lesser Town a Representative Masterpiece of European Baroque Churches.

The 79-meter-high bell tower and the church dome can be seen from a distance without walking to the Lesser Town Square. Climbing up to the Observation Deck at the Top of the Bell Tower, you can see Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and the streets of Prague filled with red roofs. There is no elevator inside the building, so you will have to climb 215 steps to the top to see the Bell Tower Interior and the house for bell ringers.

Manywhere Tips:
The church bell tower is now owned by the Prague government, so you cannot reach the bell tower observation deck with a church ticket.

Church Bell Tower and Dome

Entering the Lesser Town St. Nicholas Church, you will find countless statues lining the frieze, pillar tops, and niches of the nave, represented by the Four Doctors of the Church and the main altar of St. Nicholas below the dome. The Marble Pulpit on the left side of the nave is also decorated with gilded angels and the image of St. John the Baptist.

Looking up, the church’s ceiling, dome, and surrounding chapels are also decorated with a large number of religious frescoes, mostly created in the 18th century. The church’s Zenith Fresco, The Assumption of St. Nicholas covers an area of 1,500 square meters, a painting of similar size not often seen in Europe. The author of the Dome Painting, Holy Trinity was František Xaver Palko, who arrived in Prague in 1753 and completed this masterpiece after his studies in Vienna and Venice.

Manywhere Tips:
The Four Doctors of the Church are Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory Nazianzus, and Saint John Chrysostom.

The St. Nicholas Church of Lesser Town Prague retains a 4,000-pipe organ that the famous composer Mozart played on during his stay in Prague. Today the church also hosts hundreds of concerts each year for audiences to hear the celestial sounds of this organ.