Church of Saint Adalbert in Dejvice, Prague

The Church of Saint Adalbert is a basilica-style church built into the complex of the Archbishop's Seminary in Prague's Dejvice district, right next to the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. Constructed between 1925 and 1927 as an integral part of the wider seminary building rather than a freestanding structure, it still functions today as the seminary's subsidiary church.

Who designed it, and in what style?

The design came from František Havlena, an architect working for the Prague archbishopric. He laid out a three-aisled basilica that blends Romanesque-inspired massing with Byzantine detailing — most visible in the powerful dome rising over the crossing and in the two towers with pyramidal caps, whose interiors were finished in a Byzantine style. The church was built on a generous scale, designed to seat well over a thousand worshippers.

Who is the church dedicated to?

Its patron is Saint Adalbert of Prague, the tenth-century bishop of Prague who is venerated as one of the patron saints of both the Czech lands and Poland. The church was formally consecrated on 6 November 1927, marking the end of a two-year construction period carried out alongside the seminary building itself.

What happened to the church under communist rule?

During the Second World War the seminary was temporarily evacuated, but the church itself stayed in use. Everything changed after the communist takeover: in the 1950s the army seized the entire complex and turned it into a political academy. From 1959 the building housed, among other things, the editorial office of the magazine "Otázky míru a socialismu" ("Questions of Peace and Socialism"), while the church itself was repurposed for secular use — serving as a cultural hall and, at one point, a recording studio, with its organ removed in the process.

When did it return to religious use?

The building was returned to the Catholic Church in 1990, following the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. An independent pastoral administration was established there in October 1991, and the church has functioned as a place of worship ever since, as the subsidiary church of the Archbishop's Seminary under the parish of Saint Matthew in Dejvice.

Where exactly is the church located?

The church stands in Prague 6, in the Dejvice district, within the seminary complex on Thákurova street, directly adjacent to buildings of Charles University and the Czech Technical University (ČVUT). It's a quiet, academic corner of the city, away from Prague's tourist core but well connected to it by metro.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the patron saint of the church in Dejvice? Saint Adalbert of Prague, patron saint of the Czech lands and Poland.

When was the church built, and who designed it? It was built between 1925 and 1927 to a design by architect František Havlena, as part of the Archbishop's Seminary complex.

What architectural style is it built in? A three-aisled basilica combining Romanesque forms with Byzantine elements, marked by a large dome over the crossing and two towers with pyramidal caps.

What happened to the church during the communist era? The complex was seized by the army; from the late 1950s the building housed, among other things, a political magazine's editorial office, and the church itself was converted into a secular hall and recording studio.

Is the church open for worship today? Yes — since 1990, when it was returned to the Catholic Church, it has again served as an active place of worship, the subsidiary church of the seminary.