Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral

The Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague is the seat of the Prague eparchy of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, but its fame rests mostly on a single night in 1942, when its crypt became the last hiding place of the men who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich.

How did a Catholic Baroque church become an Orthodox cathedral?

The building itself predates its Orthodox identity by two centuries. Construction started in 1730 to a design by Pavel Ignác Bayer and was finished between 1733 and 1740 by Kristian Spannbruker and Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, a member of the family of architects behind much of Baroque Prague. For roughly 200 years it served as the Roman Catholic Church of St. Charles Borromeo, standing on the corner of Resslova and Na Zderaze streets in Prague's New Town. That changed in 1933, when the Czechoslovak government granted the building on a long-term lease to the newly forming Czechoslovak Orthodox Church. On 28 September 1935, the feast day of St. Wenceslas, it was consecrated as the first Orthodox church in Prague, dedicated to Saints Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionaries credited with bringing Eastern Christianity to Great Moravia.

What happened in the crypt in 1942?

On 27 May 1942, Czechoslovak paratroopers Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík carried out Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. In the aftermath, seven paratroopers involved in the operation went into hiding in the church's underground crypt. Over the following weeks they heard street loudspeakers announce the names of people executed in reprisal, and on 10 June news reached them that the village of Lidice had been razed to the ground. Betrayed by a fellow resistance member, they were surrounded by SS and Gestapo units on 18 June 1942. After a prolonged gun battle, once their ammunition ran out, the men took their own lives rather than surrender.

What is there to see today?

The church interior still reflects its Catholic Baroque origins, with stucco decoration, frescoes and an altar unchanged from its original purpose, while a small garden in front is enclosed by a Baroque fence adorned with angel statues. The main draw for most visitors, though, is the crypt itself, which now houses the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror. The exhibition preserves physical traces of the 1942 battle, including bullet and grenade damage in the walls, alongside a reconstruction of the events and film material documenting Operation Anthropoid and its participants.

Frequently asked questions

Is the cathedral still an active place of worship? Yes. It is the cathedral church of the Prague eparchy of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and it serves a local parish congregation.

What exactly happened in the crypt? Seven Czechoslovak paratroopers involved in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich hid there after Operation Anthropoid; on 18 June 1942 they fought their final battle against German forces and died there.

Can visitors go into the crypt? Yes, the crypt operates as a museum, the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror, with a historical exhibition on Operation Anthropoid.

Where exactly is the cathedral located? On the corner of Resslova and Na Zderaze streets in Prague's New Town, close to the Vltava riverbank.