What is Prague famous for? Tyn Church, or the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, is a visiting card of the Old Town. It is he who is depicted on many postcards, photographs and postage stamps, where the center of Prague is captured. To come to the Czech capital and not to be near it is unforgivable even for a tourist who has very little time. Moreover, most of the excursion routes start precisely from the Old Town Square, where this famous shrine rises - the Tyn Church. The Czech Republic has preserved this heritage of architecture, despite the vicissitudes of history. Now it is considered one of the symbols of Prague.
Tyn Church in Prague: Address
This most important landmark of the city on the Vltava is located in the heart of the capital - on Old Town Square. You can get there by metro (green line "A", station "Staromestskaya"), trams number 17 and number 18, buses number 194 and number 207. The exact address is: 1, Old Town Square.
You don’t have to look for a temple at all: two towers rise above the entire area and attract eyes even from afar. But, coming closer, you can see that the entrance to the church itself is located not from the side of the square, but from the Tyn Courtyard. You have to go through the side gallery, which goes straight to the steps of the shrine. If you plan an excursion to the Tyn Church in Prague, a photo near this architectural masterpiece must be made.
Title
The word "tyn" is familiar to the Slavs. It means "fence", "fence", "hedge." The fact is that the history of this name - the temple of the Holy Virgin Mary in front of Tyn - begins from the time when no temple was mentioned. So why is it so called Tyn Church?
Prague In the 10th century, it became the capital of the Czech state, and at the end of the same century a market square was built on the site of today's Old Town Square. Around it, various buildings began to appear. Merchants from different parts of the country gathered there. To provide them with an overnight stay, an inn was built right next to the market, which was surrounded by a palisade - tyn. The market square has always been crowded, so in the best traditions of Catholicism a small chapel soon appeared there, which was located near the inn, just behind the fence. It is to this notorious fence (tynu) that the Tyn church built later was obliged by its name. The inn also survived to our time, however, it was modified. Now it is called Ungelt.
Construction history
And in the 11th century on the site of the Tyn Church there was only a small nameless church - a Romanesque chapel without an altar. At the end of the 13th century it was rebuilt, and now it was already a full-fledged church of the Virgin Mary, executed in the then prevailing architectural style of early Gothic. Perhaps this structure would have remained untouched until our time, if not for the competition of the Old Town and Prague Castle (a newly formed administrative unit on the opposite bank of the Vltava River). Both one and the second had city status. The old place was governed by the governor of Charles IV. And in Prague Castle, while the construction of the grand St. Vitus Cathedral began. Therefore, in order to keep up, they decided to rebuild the Church of the Virgin Mary into a more pompous Catholic church. For the sake of time, the foundation was left the same. Work began in 1365.
But at the beginning of the 15th century, after the execution of Jan Hus, the country was swept by Hussite wars in which Protestants fought against Catholics, and there was no time for construction work. By that time, everything was ready, except for the roof, towers and pediment. Later, the Hussites managed to capture the Tyn Church, and for some time they held their services there. This period owes its appearance to the statue of the Hussite king Jiri of Podebrad with a golden bowl in his hands. But when the uprising was crushed, the last Hussite leader and his supporters were executed near the church. The gallows for them were made of wood, which was originally intended for the roof. The statue of the king was removed; instead, an image of the Madonna appeared, which is still there. The golden cup was melted and a halo was poured out of it around Mary’s head. When everything more or less calmed down, the erection of the church continued and was completed in 1511.
Architecture features
Since the construction dragged on for two centuries, different styles are visible in the architectural design: from Gothic to Baroque. The project was developed by the Flemish architect Mathieu Arassky in the 14th century, another of his creation is St. Vitus Cathedral. Then Peter Parler continued to build the Tyn Church. Prague can be proud of such architects.
The temple was designed as a basilica (a rectangular shape) with a length of 52 m and a width of 28 m with three naves (longitudinal interior).
Probably, most guides immediately draw the attention of the public to the fact that the two towers of the Tyn Church are asymmetric with each other, although this does not strike the eye at first sight. It has a symbolic meaning. One of the towers is called Adam and represents the masculine principle. That is why it is slightly larger in size and is located in front of the second, this indicates a man’s place in the family. The smaller tower is called respectively - Eve. Due to the aforementioned Hussite wars, the time interval between the construction of the north and south towers is almost a hundred years.
Interior
Tyn Church impresses with its bright and spacious interior. Among the most interesting relics, an altar painted in the early Baroque style by Karel Shkreta in 1649 should be noted. It depicts the ascension of Mary to heaven. In the right nave is the world famous statue of the Tyn Madonna on the throne of 1420. The church boasts the oldest organ in Prague in 1673, a tin font for the baptism of infants in 1414, and a 15th-century Gothic stone chair. Also, according to the ancient Catholic tradition, many famous people are buried right in the church, there are as many as 60 tombstones. For example, here is the ashes of the Czech astronomer Tycho Brahe.
Temple legends
But not all tourists are interested in dry facts, but they listen to funny stories and legends with pleasure. Here is one of them. Previously, one of the main statues (the Hussite king) was holding a golden bowl. Over time, storks began to nest there, and they are known to feed on frogs. Once one of the frogs fell on the head of a noble person, a scandal erupted. I had to wait for the storks to fly to warmer climes to cover the bowl with a board.
Many stone gravestones are badly damaged. This is due to the old belief that stepping on a gravestone can get rid of severe toothache. It turns out that they came to the temple not only to pray, but also to be healed.
Schedule
You can admire the temple from the square 24 hours a day, but they will let people inside only on certain days and hours: 10.00-13.00 and 15.00-17.00 (Tuesday to Saturday), 10.30-12.00 (Sunday). Monday is a day off.
Tyn Church and now functions as a place for worship. Also, classical music concerts are regularly held there - acoustics are favorable.