What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 19 June 2024.

Clement of Rome, or Clement I, was the fourth Pope, serving from 88 to 99 AD. Persecuted by the Emperor Trajan, he was tied to an anchor and dragged out to sea.

This is how he is portrayed at St Sofia’s Cathedral in Kyiv.

A pre-Romanesque church in this area of Prague is mentioned as early as 993, which would make it the second oldest church on this side of the Vltava after one at Vyšehrad. It was destroyed around 1100.

By about 1200, a Romanesque church was standing in its place, and served as the local parish church (except for a brief period from 1225 to 1232, when it was used by the Dominican order).

That order then moved to – well, you might have guessed if you know the Old Town: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/15/prague-1-day-197-seminarska/.

As the surrounding area was built up, the church was deemed too small to serve the parish, and was destroyed around 1400, after which a Gothic basilica was constructed in its place.

This, too, served as a parish church, but got looted in the Hussite Wars (by the Hussites – one of their biggest detractors preached here), but, post-war, the church ended up in the hands of the Utraquists.

They stayed until 1621 (‘until 1621’ = ‘not exactly their choice to leave’), having overseen the creation of a bell tower (1550s) and a Gothic vault (1578).

Afterwards, the church was administered by priests from the Church of St Peter (nearby, and one of the few Prague 1 churches yet to be covered).

It closed down entirely in 1784, along with many other places of worship, and later became a granary.

In 1850, it became a functioning church again, and was used by the Calvinists; since 1918, it’s been used by the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren.

That Church was created in the same year, following the unification of the Lutherans and the Calvinists. It’s now the second-largest in Czechia.

Back on St Clement for a second: the earliest church in Bohemia, founded around 880 in Levy Hradec, was also named after him.

Levý Hradec was the seat of the Bohemian princes until they decided to move to Prague, the only reason why this isn’t day 262 of What’s In A Levý Hradec Street Name: https://levyhradec.cz.