Church of Holy Cross

The Church of the Holy Cross sits right on Na Příkopě, Prague's busy shopping boulevard linking Wenceslas Square with Náměstí Republiky. Behind its calm Empire-style façade is an active parish run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, offering a quiet spot for prayer in the middle of one of the city's noisiest streets.

Why was a church built on this particular corner?

The Piarist order settled in Prague in 1752 and initially ran a school on Celetná Street. As student numbers grew beyond that building's capacity, the Piarists acquired a plot on the corner of Na Příkopě — land that had previously held an older structure dating back to the 14th century, destroyed in fires linked to the Prussian conflicts of the mid-18th century. On that cleared site they built a new secondary school together with a church meant to serve both the students and the surrounding neighborhood.

When was the current building constructed?

Construction ran from around 1816–1817, and the church was consecrated on May 9, 1824. The design came from architect Jiří (Georg) Fischer working with Jindřich Hausknecht, with stonework carried out by L. Kranner. The result is a restrained Empire-style building: a single-nave structure with a façade of columns and pilasters topped with Ionic capitals, a deliberate contrast to the heavier Baroque churches found elsewhere in Prague's historic core.

What's inside worth noticing?

The interior is a plain rectangular hall in keeping with the classical exterior, framed by Ionic pilasters and columns. Above the entrance runs the Latin inscription "AVE CRUX SPES UNICA" ("Hail cross, our only hope"), a direct nod to the church's dedication. The church also holds a life-size photographic reproduction of the Shroud of Turin, the cloth traditionally said to have wrapped the body of Jesus after the crucifixion.

The attached Piarist grammar school counted among its students Josef Jungmann and Karel Hynek Mácha, two figures central to the 19th-century revival of the Czech language and literature — giving the site a cultural weight that goes beyond its religious role.

Who runs the church today?

Since 1938, the church has been in the care of the Salesians of Don Bosco, who took over from the Piarists. It was shut down twice during the communist era, in 1950 and again in 1973, and only returned to Salesian administration on January 2, 1990. Today it hosts daily Mass, including a Sunday service in Italian, and the resident priests offer confession and spiritual conversation during opening hours.

Practical information

The church is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00, and on Sundays from 9:00 to 12:30 and 18:30 to 20:00. It stays closed on Saturdays. Exact hours are posted at the entrance and can shift, so it's worth checking on site before a visit.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same church as the famous Rotunda of the Holy Cross in the Old Town? No. The Romanesque Rotunda of the Finding of the Holy Cross (also known as the Rotunda Minor) stands in the Old Town, at the junction of Konviktská and Karolíny Světlé streets, and is one of the oldest surviving sacred buildings in Prague. The church on Na Příkopě is a completely different, much younger building in the New Town.

How old is the current building? The present Empire-style church dates from 1816–1824, though an older sacred building had stood on the same spot before it.

Can visitors go inside? Yes, the church is open to both worshippers and visitors during its posted hours, outside of active services.

Who manages the church now? The Salesians of Don Bosco have run it again since 1990, providing daily pastoral care on site.