St. Procopius Church () is the parish church of the district of

Žižkov Žižkov ( or ''Zizkow'', between 1939 and 1945 ''Veitsberg'') is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of Žižkov lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3, except for very small parts which are in Pra ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Dedicated to the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Procopius of Sázava Saint Procopius of Sázava (, ; died 25 March 1053) was a Czech Christian canon and hermit, who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic church. Life Little about his life is known with certainty. According to hag ...

, the three-aisled

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church, located at Sladkovského Square on Seifertova Street, was designed by Bohemian architects Josef Mocker (who completed St. Vitus Cathedral) and František Mikš. Its steeple dominates the skyline of Žižkov (along with the more-recently constructed

Žižkov Television Tower The Žižkov Television Tower () is a transmitter tower built in Prague between 1985 and 1992. Designed by the architect Václav Aulický and the structural engineer Jiří Kozák, it stands high above the city's traditional skyline from its po ...

History

Žižkov became an independent city in 1881, but at the time did not have a sufficiently large Catholic church for its population. An association for the establishment of a Catholic church was formed in 1879. In 1883, it bought a building with a large dance hall, which was converted into a simply-decorated chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This chapel accommodated thousands of the faithful for more than 20 years, even after the dedication of St. Procopius Church, closing only in 1919. The foundation stone for St. Procopius Church was ceremonially laid by the

Archbishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

František Schönborn, on October 30, 1898 on the 50th anniversary of the reign of

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. Therefore, in the first years of its existence, the church was known as the "Jubilee" Church. Construction lasted five years. The church was consecrated on September 27, 1903 by Cardinal Lev Skrbenský z Hříště in the presence of the governor of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, Archduke Karl Ferdinand, Count of Coudenhove, with his wife. The first parish priest was Mons. Eduard Šittler. Between 1992 and 1997, the church was thoroughly restored, with the support of the district administration.

Exterior

The church is over 51 meters long and 17 meters wide, and accommodates 2000 people. The height of the dome is 16 meters and the tower is 73 meters high. The church has two entrances, on the northern and western sides. The tympanum over the north entrance has a relief depicting the Madonna with the Infant Jesus in the middle and a kneeling St. Procopius on her right side presenting her a model of the church. Over the west entrance is a relief of St.

Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names incl ...

. Both works come from the workshop of Josef Pekárek, a pupil of Josef Václav Myslbek.

Interior

Of the interior furnishings, the most famous is a painting by

Karel Škréta Karel Škréta Šotnovský of Závořice (; 1610 – 30 July 1674) was a Czech portrait painter who worked in the Baroque style. He lived through the Thirty Years' War which caused him some hardships as a Protestant which led him to leave Prague ...

of St. Wenceslaus defending Prague against the Swedes in 1649. The painting had originally belonged to the Emauzy monastery. The main altar is Neo-Gothic, designed by architect František Mikš. In the center is a statue by the sculptor Štěpán Zálešák of St. Procopius, the patron saint of the church, surrounded by

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are ...

. Eight panel paintings by Karel Ludvík Klusáček present scenes from the life of St. Procopius. The top of the altar is decorated with a group of the Crucifixion of Our Lord. A side altar has a statuette of Madonna with Jesus, possibly the original from the first half of the 15th century. It was saved during the Thirty Years' War in the house called At the Three Acorns in the New Town of Prague, where it was held until 1742. The chapel of Our Lady, on the right side, has a panel with scenes from her life. The chapel of the Divine Heart of Our Lord, on the left, has images of St.

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

and St. Alois. These were also made by Zálešák. The Baroque Venice chandelier was donated to the church by the Prince of Auersperg. The pulpit with granite stairs was made according to the design of Mikš. The organ was made by the Žižkov company of Emanuel Peter. The stained glass windows were made according to designs of Klusáček. The last window in the south of the nave, originally design of

Cyril Bouda Cyril Bouda, christened Cyrill Mikoláš Bouda (14 November 1901 – 29 August 1984), was a Czech painter, graphic artist and illustrator, professor at CTU and at Charles University in Prague. Life Born in Kladno, Bouda lived most of his life in ...

, was successfully completed only in 1992. The scene shows the meeting of Duke Oldřich with St. Procopius in the woods of Sázava.

References

*Parish Website
Roman Catholic Parish of St. Procopius, Žižkov
(in Czech). This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article in Czech Wikipedia (as of 23 March 2009). {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Saint Procopius, Zizkov Churches in Prague 3 Tourist attractions in Prague Roman Catholic churches in the Czech Republic Žižkov