Monastery church of Saint Francis of Assisi

The Monastery Church of St. Francis of Assisi is one of two churches folded into the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia in Prague's Old Town, right on the Vltava riverbank on Klášterská street. It's the oldest part of the whole complex — and a completely different building from the similarly named Church of St. Francis of Assisi near Křižovnické Square by Charles Bridge, which belongs to the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star and sits about a kilometre away.

Who founded this church, and when?

The church opened on 25 March 1234, the very day Princess Agnes of Bohemia, daughter of King Přemysl Otakar I, entered the Poor Clares order at the convent she had just founded. Her brother, King Wenceslaus I, backed the project, and the church and adjoining convent went up almost simultaneously as one of the first Franciscan-Poor Clare foundations north of the Alps. The surrounding neighbourhood, Na Františku, takes its name directly from this church.

What does the architecture look like?

The building mixes late Romanesque and early Gothic forms, making it one of the earliest Gothic structures in Bohemia. It was originally laid out as an asymmetrical two-nave church, each nave vaulted in three bays; today only the southern nave survives as such, while the northern side was absorbed into the convent's later buildings. The presbytery's vault ribs carry a distinctive pear-shaped profile, with foliage motifs on the keystones. A portal with a full tympanum survives on the presbytery's south wall, still showing traces of its original red-and-blue polychrome. Under Charles IV, the original wooden gallery was replaced with a stone one, and a new portal was added to the west front.

Who is buried inside?

King Wenceslaus I, brother of the convent's founder, was buried in the axis of the presbytery — a royal grave that set this church apart from an ordinary monastic chapel.

How does it differ from the Church of the Holy Saviour in the same complex?

The Convent of St. Agnes actually contains two separate churches. The Church of the Holy Saviour, built decades later after 1261, served as a burial chapel for later Přemyslids and as a relic treasury. The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is older, went up as part of the complex's first building phase, and it — not its neighbour — is the one that gave the surrounding district its name.

What happened to it after the convent's decline?

Like the rest of the complex, the church survived the Hussite Wars but lost its purpose when Emperor Joseph II dissolved the convent in 1782 as part of his church reforms. The buildings were converted into workshops and housing and gradually fell into disrepair. Restoration of the whole complex began in the late 19th century, and in 1978 it was declared a National Cultural Monument. The Church of St. Francis was the last part of the convent to be restored, with work finishing and the interior reopening in 1986.

Can you visit the inside today?

Unlike the neighbouring Church of the Holy Saviour, part of the National Gallery's permanent medieval art exhibition, this church isn't on the standard visitor route and stays closed day-to-day. It still functions as a monastery church; visitors mostly see its exterior while walking through the Na Františku grounds.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same church as St. Francis of Assisi near Křižovnické Square? No. They're two entirely different buildings sharing a dedication — about a kilometre apart, separated by several centuries of architectural style, and founded by different orders (Franciscans and Poor Clares here, versus the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star there).

Who is buried in the church? King Wenceslaus I, brother of the convent's founder, Agnes of Bohemia.

Where does the name of the Na Františku district come from? From this church specifically — not from the neighbouring Church of the Holy Saviour.

Is the interior open to visitors? Not usually. Unlike the rest of the convent, which houses the National Gallery's permanent exhibition, this church normally stays closed and functions as a working monastery church.