Tyn Church, Prague

What is Prague famous for? Tyn Church, or the temple of the Virgin Mary before Tyn, is a visiting card of the Old City. It is depicted on many postcards, photographs and postage stamps, where the center of Prague is imprinted. To come to the capital of the Czech Republic and not to visit it is inexcusable even for a tourist who has very little time. Moreover, most of the excursion routes start from the Old Town Square, where this famous shrine - the Tyn Church - rises. The Czech Republic has preserved this heritage of architecture, despite the vicissitudes of history. Now it is considered one of the symbols of Prague.

Tyn Church in Prague: address

This most important landmark of the city on the Vltava is in the heart of the capital - on the Old Town Square. You can get there by metro (green line "A", station "Staromestskaya"), trams No. 17 and No. 18, by buses No. 194 and No. 207. The exact address is: Old Town Square, 1.

The temple does not have to be searched at all: two towers rise above the whole square and attract views even from afar. But, coming closer, you can see that the entrance to the church itself is not located on the side of the square, but from the Tyn yard. We must go through the side gallery, which goes directly to the steps of the shrine. If you plan an excursion to the Tyn Church in Prague, a photo about this architectural masterpiece must be made necessarily.

Name

The word "tyn" is familiar to the Slavs. It means "fence", "fence", "hedge". The fact is that the history of this name - the temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary before Tyn - begins with those times when no temple was in sight. So why is this the name of the Tyn Church?

Prague In the 10th century became the capital of the Czech state, and at the end of the same century a market square was built on the site of today's Old Town Square. Around it began to appear different buildings. Merchants from all over the country gathered there. To provide them with a lodging for the night, an inn was built near the market, which was enclosed with a palisade - tuyn. The market square was always crowded, so in the best traditions of Catholicism there soon appeared a small chapel, which was located near the inn, just outside the fence. It is to this notorious fence (Tõnu) that the Tyn Church, which was built later, owes its name. The inn also survived to our time, however, it was modified. Now it's called Ungelt.

History of construction

And in the 11th century there was only a small nameless church on the site of the Tyn Church - a Romanesque chapel without an altar. At the end of the 13th century it was rebuilt, and now it was already a full-fledged church of the Virgin Mary, executed in the then prevailing architectural style of the early Gothic. Perhaps this structure would have remained untouched until our time, if not for the competition of the Old Town and Prague Castle (a newly formed administrative unit on the opposite bank of the Vltava River). Both one and the second had the status of a city. The old place was ruled by the viceroy of Charles IV. And in the Prague Castle, while the construction of the grandiose cathedral of St. Vitus began. Therefore, in order not to lag behind, the Church of the Virgin Mary was decided to be rebuilt into a more pompous Catholic church. For the sake of saving time, the foundation was left the same. The work began in 1365.

But at the beginning of the 15th century, after the execution of Jan Hus, the country was beset by Hussite wars, in which Protestants fought against Catholics, and was not up to the construction works. By that time everything was ready, except for the roof, towers and pediment. Later, the Hussites succeeded in capturing the Tyn Church, and for some time they held their divine services there. This period owes its appearance to the statue of the Hussite King Jiri from Poděbrady with a golden cup in his hands. But when the insurrection was suppressed, the execution of the last leader of the Hussites and his supporters took place near the church. The gallows for them were made of wood, which was originally intended for the roof. The statue of the king was removed, instead of it appeared the image of the Madonna, which is and still is. The golden cup was melted and poured out of her a halo around Maria's head. When everything more or less calmed down, the building of the church continued and was completed in 1511.

Features of architecture

Since the construction was delayed for two centuries, then in the architectural design are visible different styles: from Gothic to Baroque. The project was developed by the Flemish architect Mathieu Aras in the 14th century, another of his creations is St. Vitus Cathedral. Then Peter Parler continued to build the Tyn Church. Prague can be proud of such architects.

The temple was designed as a basilica (room of rectangular shape) with a length of 52 m and a width of 28 m with three naves (longitudinal interior rooms).

Probably, most guides immediately draw the attention of the public to the fact that the two towers of the Tyn Church are asymmetrical among themselves, although this is not conspicuous at first sight. It has a symbolic meaning. One of the towers is called Adam and represents the male principle. That's why it is a little bigger and is in front of the second, it means the place of the man in the family. The smaller tower is called Eve, respectively. Because of the aforementioned Hussite wars, the time span between the construction of the northern and southern towers is almost one hundred years.

Interior

Tyn Church strikes a bright and spacious interior. Among the most interesting relics is the altar, painted in the early Baroque style by Karel Shkreta in 1649. There is depicted the ascension of Mary to heaven. In the right nave there is a world-famous statue of the Tyna Madonna on the throne of 1420. The church boasts the oldest organ in Prague in 1673, a tin font for infant baptism in 1414 and a Gothic stone faculty of the 15th century. Also, according to the ancient Catholic tradition, many famous people are buried right in the church, there are as many as 60 tombstones. For example, here is the ashes of a Czech astronomer Tycho Brahe.

Legends of the Temple

But not all tourists are interested in dry facts, but funny stories and legends they listen with a hunt. Here's one of them. Previously, one of the main statues (the Hussite king) held a golden cup in his hands. Over time, the storks began to nest there, and they, as is known, feed on frogs. Once one of the frogs fell on the head of a noble person, a scandal broke out. It was necessary to wait, while storks will fly away in warm edges to close a bowl by a board.

Many stone tombstones are badly damaged. This is due to the old belief that, stepping on the tombstone, you can get rid of a strong toothache. It turns out that the temple came not only to pray, but also to be treated.

Schedule

From the square, the temple can be admired 24 hours a day, but inside it is only allowed on certain days and hours: 10.00-13.00 and 15.00-17.00 (Tuesday to Saturday), 10.30-12.00 (Sunday). Monday is a day off.

Tyn Church and now functions as a place for worship. Also there regularly conduct concerts of classical music - acoustics favors.