Church of Saint Ludmila (Horní Počernice)

The Church of Saint Ludmila stands in Chvaly, part of Prague's Horní Počernice district, right beside the local chateau. It is a modest but historically significant building — the second-oldest surviving structure in the entire district, with roots reaching back to the 17th century and a form that only took shape at the end of the 18th.

How did this church come to be?

The building's story starts not as a church but as a chapel. In 1660 the Jesuits, who at the time owned the Chvaly manor, built a small chapel here dedicated to Saint Anne. For more than a century it served the manor's residents and the surrounding community as a place of worship, before undergoing a thorough rebuild.

How did the Chapel of Saint Anne become the Church of Saint Ludmila?

After the Jesuit order was dissolved, the chapel passed into the care of the diocesan clergy. It was Father Josef Jan Pánek who, between 1793 and 1794, carried out the rebuild that gave the church its present character and its new dedication to Saint Ludmila. The chapel's original small nave was converted into the presbytery, while a new, larger nave was added alongside it, covered with a vaulted ceiling and lit by two wide windows. What had been an intimate chapel thus became a fully-fledged parish church.

What is the oldest part of the building?

Although the church's current shape dates from the late 18th century, its tower is younger still — it was only added in 1825, built in the neo-Romanesque style. Since then, the tower has become the most recognisable feature of the church's silhouette, visible from around the Chvaly chateau grounds.

What can be seen inside?

The interior holds three altars. The main altar is dedicated to the church's patron saint, Ludmila, while the two side altars honour Saint John of Nepomuk and Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. The altar paintings were created in 1880 by Vilém Kandler, so the interior decoration combines 18th-century architecture with painted decoration from the second half of the 19th century.

What is the church's relationship to Chvaly chateau?

The church stands directly next to Chvaly chateau and for centuries functioned as its manorial chapel before becoming an independent parish church. This close pairing — a chapel attached to the manor house, later opened up to serve the wider community — is typical of many similar residential-and-sacred complexes across Bohemia, and it explains why the two buildings still form a single, coherent ensemble in the landscape of Horní Počernice today.

Has the church been restored?

Yes. Between 1997 and 1999 the church underwent a major renovation that preserved its historic fabric and kept it fit to continue serving as an active parish church.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the Church of Saint Ludmila located? In Chvaly, part of the Horní Počernice district in eastern Prague, directly next to the local chateau.

Is this the same church as the famous Saint Ludmila basilica in Vinohrady? No. It is a separate, much older and more modest building, with no architectural or historical connection to Josef Mocker's neo-Gothic basilica at Náměstí Míru.

How old is this church? Its origins go back to 1660, when the Jesuits built a Chapel of Saint Anne on the site. It received its current form and dedication to Saint Ludmila between 1793 and 1794.

What is notable about the church's tower? The neo-Romanesque tower dates from 1825, making it younger than the rest of the building, and it is the church's most distinctive feature visible from a distance.

Who painted the altar paintings? All three altar paintings were created in 1880 by Vilém Kandler.