St. Wenceslas Church (Kostel svatého Václava) (1929)

The natural environment influences the architecture.

Description

The building adapts to the terrain. Because the roof of the nave is stepped and follows the rising slope. Josef Gočár used his knowledge of bridge building for this construction. Also unusual is that the tower is above the entrance to the south (often to the west). This puts the altar in the north (otherwise usually in the east). The white color of the building radiates into its surroundings. The relatively large square designed as a park leaves enough space for the church to be seen from afar.

The motif of Saint Wenceslas does not only appear in the name of the church. The large stained glass panes behind the altar show the namesake on a horse. A statue of St. Wenceslas is also mounted on the tower, but it was not installed until 2010.

History

A new Catholic church building had been required in Prague's Vršovice district since the early 20th century, as the nearby church kostel sv. Mikuláše was no longer big enough for the number of believers. It lasted until 1927, when several architects were selected in an architectural competition. However, the jury was unable to choose one architect. Among them was Josef Gočár, who then won in July 1928. He implemented his concepts from 1929 to 1930. Construction works were completed in just 11 months. They were accelerated in such a way that in 1929 the 1000th anniversary of the Czech patron Wenceslas was being celebrated and people wanted to be proud of a new church.

The building was listed in 1958.

Sources

• Wikipedia Kostel sv. Václava (Vršovice)
• NPÚ Kostel sv. Václava
• Svoboda, Noll, Havlová: Praha 1919 - 1940. Kapitoly o meziválečné architektuře., 2000
• Lukeš: Praha moderní III: Velký průvodce po architektuře 1900-1950 / Pravý břeh, 2014