St. Clement's Cathedral, Prague

St. Clement's Cathedral in Prague sits tucked inside the Clementinum complex in the Old Town, and behind its modest façade lies the only place in the Czech Republic where you can regularly hear liturgy sung in Old Church Slavonic and Ukrainian. It's the cathedral of the Apostolic Exarchate of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church, wedged between the walls of a former Jesuit college.

Why is there a church here at all?

The site's story goes back to the Middle Ages: in 1227, Dominican friars founded a monastery here, complete with a Gothic church. When the Jesuits took over the area in the 17th century to build the sprawling Clementinum, the medieval church made way for a new Baroque structure. It went up between 1711 and 1715, built by Antonio Lurago to a design generally attributed to František Maxmilián Kaňka, one of the leading names of Prague Baroque architecture.

What's waiting inside?

The exterior is deliberately restrained, but the interior delivers real drama. It's a single, wide nave beneath a vault that opens into a dome crowned with a statue of St. Clement and murals depicting scenes from his life. Six side altars carry sculptures by Matthias Bernard Braun, one of the great names of Czech Baroque sculpture, and among the paintings a work by Petr Brandl stands out.

How did the church end up as a Greek Catholic cathedral?

The building's religious history has been anything but stable. It was handed to the Greek Catholic Church in 1931. After 1950, when Greek Catholic structures were suppressed in Czechoslovakia, the church spent nearly two decades under Orthodox administration — only returning to the Greek Catholic community in 1969, where it has remained ever since. Cathedral status came later still: Pope John Paul II's bull "Quo aptius," issued on 13 March 1996, established the Apostolic Exarchate of the Czech Republic, and St. Clement's became its seat.

What happens at the cathedral today?

Despite its compact footprint, the building functions as a living cathedral — Mass is celebrated in Old Church Slavonic and Ukrainian, following Byzantine-Ruthenian tradition. The interior's acoustics also make it a regular venue for organ concerts, drawing visitors touring the Clementinum regardless of their interest in its religious role.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the cathedral located? Inside the Clementinum complex in Prague's Old Town, right alongside the other buildings of the former Jesuit college.

How is this cathedral different from an ordinary Catholic church? It belongs to the Byzantine-Ruthenian (Greek Catholic) rite — Mass follows Eastern tradition and is celebrated in Old Church Slavonic and Ukrainian, even though the building itself is architecturally a standard Western Baroque church.

Who designed the building? The design is generally credited to František Maxmilián Kaňka, while the construction between 1711 and 1715 was carried out by Antonio Lurago.

What are the highlights inside? Matthias Braun's sculptures on the six side altars, a painting by Petr Brandl, and the dome with its murals and statue of St. Clement.

Since when has it held cathedral status? Since 1996, under Pope John Paul II's bull establishing the Apostolic Exarchate of the Czech Republic.

Was the church ever Orthodox? Yes — between 1950 and 1969 it belonged to the Orthodox Church before returning to the Greek Catholic community.