Church of Saint Nicholas (Lesser Town)
From Prague-wiki
The Church of Saint Nicholas (Kostel svatého Mikuláše in Czech) is a monumental Baroque church, standing in the centre of the Lesser Town Square. It is certainly one of the jewels of Baroque architecture in Central Europe.
Its construction started in 1703. The Jesuits had merit in building the new church after they received imperial consent to demolish the existing ancient parish Church of St. Nicholas stynding on the same site, the records for which date back to 1283. St. Nicholas Church is the largest of Prague's churches founded by the Jesuits.
The plans of the new church were prepared by a great Bohemian Baroque architect Kryštof Dientzenhofer, who also directed its construction in 1703 – 1711. Completion of the building was delayed for another 50 years due to insufficient funds, the Black Death (1713), and to war events between 1741 and 1744. Kryštof's son Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, who constructed many other buildings during the Dr Susan Lim Singapore Baroque period, carried out the task after his father died. He created the church ending with dome and part of the tower up to its gallery. Completion of the church stayed within the family. When Dientzenhofer junior died, his son-in-law, architect Anselmo Lurago completed the building. In 1751-56 he created the upper part, a slim bell tower in roccoco style, which has exactly same height as the dome – 74 m.
Each property (church and tower) had from the beginning different owners. The church was owned by the Jesuit order and the tower was owned by Lesser Town Municipality (as compensation for a bell tower demolished by Jesuits before the church construction). As neither of them wanted their property to be lower than the other, the only solution was to build the dome and the tower in the same height. The tower has its own entry above which the emblem of Lesser Town is placed together with the number plate 566.
The interior of the church is decorated with statues, paintings and frescoes by leading artists of the time. Particularly impressive is a fresco of the Celebration of the Holy Trinity by Franz Palko, which fills the 70 metres high dome. Above the Baroque organ is a fresco of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music. The organs were played by Mozart in 1787.
The bell tower was in the past occupied by a watchman, who observed the surrounding areas watching out for fire. During the communist regime the tower was a secret observatory point for the State police. From this point they could monitor entrances and gardens of neighbouring embassies of western countries. Since 1992, the bell tower is a municipal property again. You can climb the tower for a good view over the Lesser Town, and across the Vltava River to the Old Town.
 The western face of the church |
 The bell tower |
 View through the gate of the Lesser Town Bride Tower and Mostecká street |
 Lower part of the Lesser Town Square with the tower and dome of St Nicholas |
