T for Týn Church / Týnský chrám

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Back in Prague (the city of 101 spires apparently) this week for one of the most recognisable buildings in the Old Town, a Gothic church called ‘The Church of Our Lady in front of Týn‘

The current church is a late Gothic style and construction began in the 14th century. The roof, the 80m high church towers and the smaller spires were completed in the 15th century. It dominates one side of the Old Town Square. (Wikipedia)

T---tyn's-church

The front is decorated with a golden image of the Virgin Mary, made in the 1620s from the melted down Hussite chalice that previously adorned the church. This was during the tumultuous period when Roman Catholics were slaughtering the Hussites who had controlled the church for two centuries.

T - tyn's church (2)

And take a close look at the two spires on the church. They are not symmetrical. They represent the masculine and feminine sides of the world. This is characteristic of Gothic architecture of the period.

The church is difficult to picture in its entirety as it is hidden behind the  four-storey Týn School, and although impressively Gothic on the outside it is heavily Baroque on the inside. It is open to the public, though closed on Mondays, and often used for mass, so check before you  visit.

T---tyn's-church-3

Entrance to the church can be difficult to find as you have to negotiate through the narrow lanes behind the square. This amazing portal dates from 1390 and depicts scenes of Christ’s Passion.

Legend has it that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty Castle on this church. What do you think?

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

30 thoughts on “T for Týn Church / Týnský chrám”

    1. Dunno who she is PP – but she was posing for ages whilst her friend took photos – I got too impatient to wait for her to move 🙂

  2. Giving the doorway perspective like that makes it look even more impressive. I find the ‘male female’ spires most interesting.

  3. I remember how dark and imposing those towers looked, on a cloudy January day. I didn’t get inside though. Good use for ‘T’ Jude, I was perhaps expecting a nice English teapot, or cream tea!
    Regards as always, Pete. x

    1. My theme is buildings Pete, or at least architecture – mindst you I did get a photo of a very big teapot today 😉 I didn’t like this church at all – gave me the creeps from the outside, wasn’t bothered about the inside.

  9. Now, in all seriousness, as I was reading down through this post and looking at the photos I was thinking how much this church reminded me of Sleeping Beauty, so you know my answer 😉

  10. History, hey Jude? Down the ages someone has always been slaughtering somebody! But not in fairy tales. Well, only dragons 🙂
    Great pics! I was just admiring your Blurb book on Canada. It’s beautiful! Did you manage to sell many? Recoup the cost? I was remarking to Sue that Andrew Petcher makes lovely ones and that I’d thought about doing one on Portugal (or Poland) but just never got around to it.

    1. Thanks Jo! The Canada book was never really meant for sale, just for us, but I have to “sell” it to allow other people to preview it. Usually it is private. The price is too high to sell, I think, unless I were to buy multiple copies and then sell them on. Hard work to do! I think I prefer blogging now – no need to edit the photos so thoroughly! Or edit so much!

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