Kláster Emauzy (Emmaus Monastery)

Kláster Emauzy (Emmaus Monastery) Review

Another of Charles IV's gifts to the city, the Benedictine monastery sits south of Karlovo námestí. It's often called Na Slovanech, literally "At the Slavs," which refers to its purpose when it was established in 1347. The emperor invited Croatian monks here to celebrate mass in Old Slavonic, and thus cultivate religion among the Slavs in a city largely controlled by Germans. A faded but substantially complete cycle of biblical scenes by Charles's court artists lines the four cloister walls. The frescoes, and especially the abbey church, suffered heavy damage from a raid by Allied bombers on February 14, 1945; it's believed they may have mistaken Prague for Dresden, 121 km (75 mi) away. The church lost its spires, and the interior remained a blackened shell until a renovation was begun in 1998; the church reopened to the public in 2003.