Church of Saint Joseph

The Church of Saint Joseph sits on Na Poříčí street at the edge of náměstí Republiky in Prague's New Town, wedged between the bustle of the Palladium shopping centre and one of the city's busiest metro stops. Behind its plain façade is one of Prague's oldest working Capuchin churches, still used by the friars nearly four centuries after it was built.

When was the church built, and by whom?

The story starts in 1630, when Gerhard of Questenberg founded a Capuchin monastery on the site. The church itself followed between 1636 and 1653, designed by Melichar Mayer for the Capuchin order. True to the order's ethos of humility, the building is deliberately austere: a single nave, a plain gabled roof, no towers, and almost no ornament — the one exception being a fresco of St. Joseph holding the infant Jesus above the entrance.

What details are easy to miss on the outside?

Look closer at the street-facing wall and you'll find two shallow niches holding 18th-century statues — one of St. Francis, the other of St. John Nepomuk, carved with a Latin inscription whose chronogram works out to the year 1732. They're a reminder that even a church built on the principle of plainness kept picking up small additions over the following century.

What is the building next door?

To the right of the church stands a structure from 1833, built on the site of the monastery's former hospice, where the friars once cared for the sick. Today the same address houses a branch of a local art school (Základní umělecká škola) — music lessons where there was once a sickroom.

Why does this church matter to Czech national history?

It's the detail most visitors walk straight past. In the old monastery building, which at one point served as army barracks, playwright Josef Kajetán Tyl wrote the text of the musical play "Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka." That play is where the song "Kde domov můj" first appeared — the very song that later became the Czech national anthem. Few plain façades in Prague hide a connection this deep to the country's identity.

What is inside the church?

The austere exterior gives no hint of what's inside: two altar paintings by Karel Škréta, dated 1653, one of the leading painters of Czech Baroque art. They remain among the more significant artworks tucked inside a New Town church of this size.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the church located? At Na Poříčí 1077/1, in Prague's New Town, right next to náměstí Republiky and the Palladium shopping centre.

When was it built and who designed it? It was built between 1636 and 1653 to a design by Melichar Mayer, for the Capuchin order, whose monastery on the site had been founded in 1630 by Gerhard of Questenberg.

Is it still an active church? Yes, it continues to serve as the Capuchins' monastery church.

What is the highlight of the interior? Two altar paintings by Karel Škréta from 1653, among the notable Baroque artworks in this part of Prague.

What is the church's connection to the Czech national anthem? In the adjoining former monastery building, later used as barracks, Josef Kajetán Tyl wrote the play "Fidlovačka," which introduced the song "Kde domov můj" — now the Czech national anthem.

What is in the building next to the church today? The 1833 building, once the monastery hospice, now houses a branch of a local art school (Základní umělecká škola).