What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 13 May 2024.

Duch svatý, or svatý Duch, is not an obscure saint, disappointing as that is for those of us who were hoping Duch was a Celtic missionary or something. He’s the Holy Spirit.

The Church of the Holy Spirit was built at some point between 1325 and 1350; it originally had a neighbour, the Benedictine Convent of Divine Mercy (Benediktinský klášter Božího Milosrdenství).

Both were sold off during the Hussite wars, but the church was later restored.

At the end of the 1500s, the convent came under the control of the Benedictine nuns from St George’s Convent at Prague Castle (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/02/prague-1-day-1-u-svateho-jiri-st-georges-square/).

Eventually, the monastery/convent was discontinued, but the church survived. There were extensive repairs after a fire in 1689.

During the clean-up of the Old Town in the early 20th century, the church was one of the rare buildings that benefited: its foundations were strengthened and remains of older buildings were discovered.

Before that, the church had also done relatively well out of the closure of other churches in the area in the 1780s, as it gained some of the better parts of their insides.

Since 2015, the church has served the Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի / Hay Aṙak’elakan Yekeghetsi).

An orchestra that a friend of mine plays in gave a concert in the church last November, meaning I was lucky enough to see its insides, which are quite fine (and also excellent for language enthusiasts). Apologies for the lack of photos.