Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Emmaus Abbey (Emauzy), Podskali, Prague

The abbey church has the dubious distinction of being the most important historical building damaged in the Second World War US bombing of the city when it was mistaken by one lost air group of 60 planes for Dresden, their intended target. Founded in 1347, the abbey is sadly not open to visitors at the weekends. There are gothic cloisters with paintings, and the abbey church itself has remains of wall paintings in the aisles. It was baroquised in the 1718, but returned to Gothic / neo-Gothic form in the 1880s. The Benedictines, having been evicted by the Germans during the war (when the abbey became a Red Cross hospital), started to rebuild after the war but were then evicted by the communists. The building was rebuilt in the 1960s and given a distinctive pair of twisting concrete spires which I rather like. The monks returned in 1990 and the church was reopened for services in 2003. NW of the west door (which was open) is a small baroque church about which I have discovered nothing. It was also locked.

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