The Church of Saint Wenceslas () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Vršovice Vršovice is a cadastral district of Prague. All of Vršovice lies within the Prague 10 administrative district. Vršovice is located south-east of the city centre. It borders Vinohrady to the north, Nusle to the south-west, Michle to the south and ...

Prague 10 Prague 10 is both a municipal and administrative district in Prague, Czech Republic with more than 110,000 inhabitants. Neighbourhood ( cadastral communities) of Prague 10 * Vršovice * large part of Strašnice (except the block with Tesla Stra� ...

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 ...

. The church was built in 1930 as a commemoration of the 1,000th anniversary of the death of St. Wenceslas.

Description

This was one of three new buildings constructed in 1929 in Prague inspired by the 1000th anniversary of the death of St. Wenceslas. This is the Saint Wenceslas who features in the

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

Good King Wenceslas "Good King Wenceslas" (Roud Folk Song Index, Roud number 24754) is a Christmas carol that tells a story of a tenth-century king of Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic) who goes on a journey, braving harsh winter weather, to give alms to a poor pe ...

", which was based on a poem written by Václav Alois Svoboda The most expensive construction for Wenceslas's commemoration in Prague was the completion of the medieval cathedral, but the Catholic Church also decided to build two new churches. One church was to be built at Jiřího z Poděbrad - the

Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord The Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord () is a Roman Catholic church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of ...

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovenian architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge a ...

and this one, which was to be built on a former cemetery in Svatopluk Čech square in Vršovice.Church of St. Wenceslas in Vršovice
Hundred -spired Prague, Praha.eu, retrieved 17 November 2013 There was already a church in Vršovice dedicated to St. Nicholas whose history went back, via several buildings on the site, to the 11th century,Church of St. Nicholas in Vršovice
virtualni.praha.eu, retrieved 16 November 2013 but this was to be a new church. The idea of a new church had started in 1864 but the process was slow and it took until 1902 to establish a committee to create a new church for Vršovice.History
farnostvrsovice.cz, retrieved 18 November 2013 The design of the new church was settled by competition with over 50 entries being short-listed to three. Czech architect Josef Gočár was the winner with a daring Constructivist design. The foundation stone was laid in May 1929 and the church was consecrated by Francis Kordac, 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 ...

on 21 September 1930.Church of St Wenceslas in Vršovice
1pragueguide, retrieved 18 November 2013 It is said that the overall plan was made by the architect to have a hall that led to the presbytery to cope with the sloping ground. The building is dominated by the 50-metre tower with a large seven-metre cross as its top. The tower also incorporates a clock and it is possible to climb to this and the top just using a ladder. The tower has five bells and the cross at the top is lighted at night. The windows in the church were replaced in 1998 during a refurbishment Up to that date the glass chosen was Luxfer glass which is a glass covered in small prisms which directed the light in the architect's desired direction. The church was open in September 2012 as part of the

European Heritage Days European Heritage Days (EHD) is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 50 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, ''Europe: a common heritage''. The annual programme offers ...

initiative.Praha 10 spouští QRpedii. Památky označkuje QR kódy
Lucas Vaclavik, September 2012, CNews.cz, retrieved 17 November 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Wenceslas Church, Vrsovice Churches in Prague 10 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Czech Republic National cultural monuments of the Czech Republic Roman Catholic churches completed in 1930 Josef Gočár buildings Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia