What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 3 March 2024.

In the Middle Ages, there was a Romanesque church here devoted to Saints Philip and James – and so the accompanying street became known as U Filipa a Jakuba.

Between 1391 and 1394, a chapel – the Bethlehem Chapel / Betlémská kaple was also constructed. The intention was for this to be a place where preachers would do their work in Czech.

A certain Jan Hus became the chapel’s administrator in 1402, and preached there until 1413. It naturally became a centre of resistance against the Catholic Church.

In 1412, three followers of Jan Hus who had been executed for protesting against the granting of indulgences were buried in the chapel.

After the Hussite Wars, the chapel basically served as a parish church, and many notable people were buried there.

In 1622 – two years after the Hussites had been defeated – Ferdinand II gave the chapel to the Jesuits. They had to cede it to the University of Prague in 1638, but got it back in 1661, and used it until their own dissolution in 1773.

In increasingly poor condition, the chapel was mainly demolished in 1798 and was later replaced with an apartment block.

The block was demolished in 1948, and the chapel was reconstructed from 1950 to 1952. It was officially reopened on 6 July 1954 (6 July being the date on which Jan Hus was executed):

The chapel also gained a new bronze bell in 2015, 600 years after the death of Jan Hus: https://regiony.rozhlas.cz/novodoba-betlemska-kaple-ma-svuj-zvon-a-unikatni-svetelny-napis-7437068.

These pictures from 1765 (approx) and 1785 indicate that the current chapel is a faithful replica.

The most famous picture of Jan Hus preaching in the Bethlehem Chapel is by Alfons Mucha, and is part of his Slav Epic.

Number 1 on the square, Dům U Halánků, was discussed yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/01/prague-1-day-159-naprstkova/.

In October 2024, 600 years after Jan Žižka’s death, a commemorative ceremony included the return of a sword that (possibly) belonged to him: https://www.fotoarena.com.br/detalhes/foto?id=2Y9WJHK&b=alamy&ta=imagens.