Chapel of Saint Florian

The Chapel of Saint Florian in Kyšice is a small but distinctive village landmark that has stood at the heart of this settlement in the Kladno District, in the Central Bohemian Region, for more than 150 years.

Where exactly is the chapel located?

Kyšice lies roughly 5 km south of Kladno, close to the small town of Unhošť. The village has never had a parish church of its own — it has always belonged to the parish based in Unhošť, just a few kilometres away. The chapel stands on the village green (náves), right in the centre of Kyšice, making it hard to miss and a natural point of reference for anyone passing through.

When was the chapel built, and who paid for it?

The chapel was built in 1863 in the Neo-Romanesque style. Notably, it was not commissioned by the church or a noble patron — the construction costs were covered by a collection among the village residents themselves. This was a fairly typical way of financing small sacred buildings in the 19th-century Czech countryside: the local community decided on its own to build the chapel and paid for it collectively, which gave the project a civic, grassroots character rather than that of a top-down investment.

What does the chapel look like?

The most distinctive feature of the structure is its two-story, rectangular (prismatic) tower with a pyramidal, tent-shaped roof, positioned in front of the main nave. A clock was installed in the tower's upper level, and it still serves a practical purpose today, marking time for the villagers rather than acting merely as decoration. This layout, with a projecting clock tower, was a common solution for small village chapels in Central Europe during this period, where the sacred building often doubled as the community's public clock.

Right in front of the chapel, on a landscaped area of the square, stands an additional iron crucifix mounted on a stone base, dating from 1888 — a quarter-century younger than the chapel itself. It is a separate, though spatially closely linked, piece of minor sacred architecture that completes the overall composition of the village green.

Does the chapel still serve a religious function today?

The building is not currently used for regular church services — no permanent religious worship takes place there. Despite this, its exterior is carefully maintained, which shows that the residents of Kyšice still regard the chapel as an important part of the village's local heritage and identity, rather than a neglected, decaying monument.

Why is it worth stopping in Kyšice?

The Chapel of Saint Florian is not a monumental tourist attraction, but it is precisely this kind of modest, functional building — erected through the collective effort of local residents — that illustrates the everyday history of the 19th-century Czech countryside so well. Combined with the iron crucifix from 1888 and the layout of the village green itself, the site forms a compact, legible fragment of local heritage, worth a brief stop for anyone exploring the area around Kladno or Unhošť.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where exactly is the Chapel of Saint Florian in Kyšice located? It stands on the village green in the centre of Kyšice, a village in the Kladno District of the Central Bohemian Region, about 5 km south of Kladno.

When was the chapel built, and who financed it? It was built in 1863 in the Neo-Romanesque style, funded by a collection among the village's residents.

What is the most distinctive architectural feature of the chapel? Its two-story, rectangular tower with a pyramidal roof and a clock in the upper level, positioned in front of the main nave.

Is there anything else worth seeing near the chapel? Yes — an iron crucifix on a stone base from 1888 stands in front of the chapel, forming part of the same ensemble on the village green.