History of the Prague Crossroads

Location Prague - Czech Republic

Location C.R. - Central Europe

Founded - c. 885

Area - 496 km²

Population - 1,249,026

Language - Czech language

Key words - adaptive reuse, baroque, church, gothic, renaissance, world heritage site, sacred, deconsecrated, culture

The Prague Crossroads is located in a recently deconsecrated church St. Anna's originally built in 1316. The church has been under the administration of the National Theatre since the 1970s and is operated under the title of 'Prague Crossroads' to promote the crossroads of different cultural influences, intersecting in Prague over the centuries. 

St Anna's (formerly known as St. Lawrence’s Church) is a protected building and is an important landmark in the cultural heritage of Prague. St. Anna's was originally established by St. Vaclav in 927 A.D., in Zlatá Street at Prague’s Old Town Square. After 1230, the Knights Templars settled there and they expanded St. Lawrence’s Church according to their traditions so that it copied the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, but on a smaller scale. In 1313, the Dominicans from the Monastery of St. Anne at Újezd purchased the monastery buildings, including St. Lawrence’s Church. During the Hussite period and thereafter, the monastery and the church had a very unsettled fate. In 1782, Emperor Joseph II closed the monastery as part of his reformation program and the church was deconsecrated. 

The building went to the court printer, Jan Ferdinand of Schönfeld, who established a printing works there in 1816. From a printing company the building was then used as a warehouse. Three floors were installed within to tailor the church to its new function, blocking the vault from view, damaging murals, and disrupting the timber configuration from the 1730s. An unsound arch collapsed in the early 1880s and no reconstruction was attempted until 1989, when insensitive renovations removed pieces of the original Gothic truss and the murals were conserved.

In 1999, it leased the church to the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97 on a 99-year lease and work began on the very demanding reconstruction and rescue of the building. In 2004, the 3rd stage of the reconstruction work was completed and the area was officially opened with the traditional presentation of the Foundation VIZE 97 Awards.

St. Anna’s Church is a grand example of Prague Gothic architecture of the Luxembourg period. Because of the adaptive reuse solution, the church continues to represent its history while serving a positive, modern function.  With the aid of WMF (World Monuments Fund), the church was transformed into a functioning community center, becoming a part of the Prague Crossroads Program. St. Anna’s now functions as a performance space and seats up to 400 guests.