OUR LADY OF TÝN CHURCH (TÝNSKÝ CHRÁM)

In a radiant Gothic style, the church, built between 1365 and 1470, was the place of worship of the Hussites until 1621 and remains the largest church on this bank of the Vltava River. It has no facade on the square, being surrounded by the arcades of merchant houses, but dominates the space of its two arrows, 70 m high, which stand out nicely on the Prague sky. Facing the church, you will notice that the left arrow is slightly lower and narrower than the right. These types of arrows are called "Adam and Eve". The construction of the church, a magnificent Gothic building, began in 1365 on the site of another Gothic church that had itself been built on the site of a Romanesque building. Its impressive arrows date from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Golden Virgin on the façade today is actually an old golden chalice, symbol of the Hussites, melted in 1621 and reused (this is what we now call recycling!). Inside, after observing the impressive volumes of the main nave, a superb mixture of Gothic and Baroque (the Baroque vault dates from the 1689 fire) can be admired as well as magnificent witnesses of the period, the gothic canopy made of stone by Matěj Rejsek, pewter baptismal fountains, the oldest in existence today (1414), the 14th century stone pulpit, or the tomb of Tycho de Brahe, a famous Danish astronomer who came to Prague at the invitation of Emperor Rudolph II. Some works by the famous Czech painter Karel Škréta can also be seen on the altar panels. The church is completely integrated into the urban fabric, since its entrance is accessed through a private house. A legend tells us that in one of the neighbouring houses, and not just any house, since it was the one where Franz Kafka grew up, the service could be followed from a window facing directly into the nave. It owes its name of Tyn to the presence next to a former merchant's courtyard, once a major trading place in Prague, today a very beautiful courtyard, still located behind the church, welcoming shops, restaurants and bars.

As you exit, take the small alleyway of the Týn, which leads into the old town. You will be able to admire, on the tympanum, using as much as possible the little distance offered by the alley, very beautiful reliefs representing the passion of Christ.