An Island of Peace: The Convent of St. Agnes

It's official. I have a new favorite spot in Prague.

From the street, the Convent of St. Agnes looks much like many of the other churches and religious buildings that are scattered all over Prague's New and Old Town areas. Buildings like it are so common, I am sure many tourists literally don't even notice it.

Viewed from the riverside entrance.

Situated at the north end of the Old Town, near the Jewish Quarter of Josefov, right on the Vlatava river as it curves through the city, the convent is actually one of the oldest buildings in Prague. It was started in 1231 and first consecrated in 1234--over a hundred years before the cornerstone was laid for St. Vitus' Cathedral--though initial construction continued off and on for decades.

St. Agnes and her cloister.

So who was St. Agnes? 

I'm glad you asked! St. Agnes (Anežka) of Bohemia--as she is often known to separate her from all the other Angeses (Agnae?)--was the daughter of the powerful King Ottokar of Bohemia. For most of her early life, she was either offered or betrothed to one or another European monarch, destined to live the life of a queen. However, after he father died when she was 19, Agnes declared her intention to forgo marriage altogether, and instead, with the blessing of her brother (the new king) and the Pope, she started a monastery/convent. Her brother gave her a plot of land, and the new chapter become part of the Order of Poor Clares, the female counterpart to the Franciscan order (there were some male Franciscan friars in the complex, as well--in a separate building, of course).

The Franciscans focused on living lives of poverty and, especially for the Poor Clares, caring for the poor and sick. St. Francis had only been dead for a few years at this time, and St. Clare, who started the Poor Clares (and was a friend/follower of Francis) was still alive (she corresponded with Agnes about her new duties). Agnes was on the cutting edge, as it were of what is still one of the most prominent strains in Catholicism. Indeed, Agnes' convent was the first the order established north of the Alps. At the age of 20, Agnes entered the convent, and became abbess shortly thereafter, after being pressured by the Pope to take the role. She led the community for about 50 years, though she preferred the title "senior sister" and rejected any trappings of worldly authority. She later founded another order--the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star--a male medical order that is the only male religious order founded by a woman, and the only Bohemian order that still exists, though she turned control over that order to the Church shortly after founding it to focus on her convent. Clearly, Agnes was a remarkable woman. In her own life, and for centuries after, she was treated as a saint, though she wasn't officially canonized until 1989. In fact, there was a prophecy that Bohemia wouldn't prosper until Agnes was canonized by the Church, so some believers find meaning in the fact that, mere days after Agnes of Bohemia officially became St Agnes, the Velvet Revolution began.

Images of Agnes often depict her with a model of her church, though this artist seems never
to have seen said church, because that is *not* it.

The Convent

There, now you know who St. Agnes was--she's a very interesting figure--but I don't want to focus on her life, but rather her life's work--her convent. Agnes had lived abroad as a teenager, and she brought back with her the new "Gothic" architecture that was all the rage, and her convent was built in the new style, and was quite modern and cutting edge at the time. Like the later Emmaus monastery (with its Gothic frescoes), St. Agnes' Convent has the traditional central courtyard surrounded by cloisters and a main chapel. However, unlike Emmaus, which features the original frescoes and other decorative touches, St. Agnes' convent has lost almost all its interior decorative elements, leaving it a stark example of pure Gothic architecture and design.

Some of the oldest Gothic windows in Prague.

As you can see, the interior is very bare but still impressive.

A beautiful apple tree stands in the middle of the Eden-inspired courtyard.

The door that led to Agnes' room.

The main chapel was hosting an art exhibition--that's not debris on the floor.

A scale model of the entire complex. There are two full gardens, plus several outbuildings.

The Art

As nifty as the convent would be merely as a (free!) historical landmark, it's also one of the branches of the National Gallery in Prague (Národní galerie v Praze). The National Gallery collects and displays art and decorative arts, featuring the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and is one of the largest museum complexes in the Czech Republic. However, as I mentioned, it has numerous locations all over Prague--as well as outside the city--and each location functions the way a wing might in a single-building museum, focusing on a particular period, style, or type of art.

While the large gardens surrounding the building are home to a (also free!) sculpture garden (I do love a sculpture garden) with large, modern pieces, uncovered ruins of former buildings (like the friars' building), and lots of places to sit and enjoy a nice day...

The elaborate building outside the cloister walls is the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The old and the new.

Oddly, not the only skull in this post.

...the upper floors of the convent feature an amazing collection of Medieval art from Bohemia and Central Europe. This is the only portion of the facility that requires an admission fee (220 KČ or about $10US), but it is a fee worth paying. As you might expect, it consists mostly of religious themed works and, if that's your jam (it is mine), it's a truly breathtaking collection. I found myself continually drawn to the works that surprised me with an unexpected depiction of emotionality or unusual or striking imagery.

Detail of a distraught angel from a crucifiction scene..

The Assumption of Christ, with just His feet visible.

This Pietà's Mary had a face that spoke to me of resignation in the face of overwhelming sorrow, though I don't think I quite captured what I saw in person.

Because many of the works were originally cabinet doors, the Gallery has found ways to display them so both sides are visible.

A Madonna and Child in a Gothic-arched alcove that could have been designed to display it. The combination of art of location was quite special.

Crucifiction scene with the two thieves.

The unrepentant thief is being tormented by a demon.

While the repentant thief has his soul collected by an angel.

Carved wooden triptych altarpiece.

Carved image of St. George slaying the dragon.

A particularly striking woodcarving of Death from the late Gothic period, when Death imagery, as on the Prague Astronomical Clock, became much more common. 

Like this cheerful Grim Reaper.

My pictures don't do these pieces justice--they never do--but there is a free companion app (called NGP - Hidden Secrets) that shows 15 of the collection's highlights, gives information about them, and even shows the pencil drawings beneath some of the paintings. So, if you can't make the trip to Prague, maybe download the app, find a quiet spot, and spend a few minutes lost in the past.

Tips for visiting the National Gallery -- The Convent of St. Agnes

• The closest transit stop is the bus stop Nemocnice Na Františku, but tram stop Dlouhá třída is almost as close and much easier to get to.
• The self-guided tour of the convent building's architecture and history, as well as the gardens, are well worth a visit unto themselves--and all free.
• The app is 100% worth downloading, even if it feels a bit redundant once you're in front of the actual painting.
• Across the street, on the riverbank, are several restaurants and the departure points for a variety of river cruises and tours if you want to spend the day in/near the area.
• There is a small restaurant with a limited menu at the convent, but it seemed rather high-end, so I opted for a cheaper lunch nearby.
• I would allot about 3-3.5 hours to see the whole convent, including the paid gallery and gardens, assuming you neither race nor dawdle.

The Ask

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