St. Clement's Cathedral () also known as the Church of St. Clement or St.Kliment, is a Ruthenian

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church located in

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 ...

, and functions as the cathedral of the

Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic The Apostolic Exarchate of the Greek Catholic Church in the Czech Republic is an exarchate of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church that was erected by Pope John Paul II on 13 March 1996. Also following the 1989 Velvet Revolution, the married men ...

(''Exarchatus Apostolicus Reipublicae Cechae''). The church was erected as a cathedral with the Bull ''"Quo aptius"'' by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

of March 13, 1996, which established the Exarchate of the Czech Republic.

Description

The single-nave

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church was built for the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in the

Clementinum The Clementinum () is a historic complex of buildings in Prague which houses the National Library of the Czech Republic. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries; the City Library was also nearby on M ...

area between 1711 and 1715. It was designed by František Kaňka and built by Antonio Lurago on the site of an older Gothic church, where the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

in 1227 founded their monastery, and which was destroyed by

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

in 1420. The Italian Chapel, or the Chapel of the Virgin, was built above the church of St. Clement, between 1590 and 1600, for the Catholic Italian inhabitants. The interior of the church is richly decorated, with statues of the

Fathers of the Church The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

and the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

placed in niches in the walls, the work of

Matthias Braun Matthias Bernard Braun (Czech: ''Matyáš Bernard Braun'', 24 February 1684 in Sautens near Innsbruck – 15 February 1738 in Prague) was a sculptor and carver active in the Kingdom of Bohemia, one of the most prominent late baroque style scu ...

. The main altar is decorated with a painting by Josef Kramolín. The original

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

was replaced by a new one in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clement's Cathedral, Prague Ruthenian Catholic cathedrals Catholic cathedrals in the Czech Republic Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Europe Buildings and structures in Prague Roman Catholic churches completed in 1715 1715 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Czech Republic Baroque church buildings in the Czech Republic

Description

See also

References