Emperor Charles IV, after the foundation of Prague’s New Town, invited several religious orders to Prague. The Servite Order was one of them. The site beside the older St. Mary’s church, today’s at Na Slupi Street was designated as the site of their operation. It is hard to believe that it used to have a quiet romantic shade with plenty of green vegetation and with a clear stream, today known as Botič. This is from where the name „Na trávníčku“ (On grass) comes from.
Servite Order was founded by Charles IV on 24th March 1360 and so a small convent grew up here. Also the Servite Order built here a new gothic church for Lady Day, a spacious building with a square aisle, a pentagonal presbytery and a slim steeple in its forefront. Its central auditorium space is unique. It is vaulted over onto the only central pillar connected with groined vaulting.
The monastery, earlier used by the Trinite Order, and the church were discontinued during the government of Joseph II. The church was deconsecrated and lost all of its historical fixtures. The monastery building was used by the army, later it was reconstructed but it never became a monastery again.
Falling into disrepair the church was only restored in the mid 19th century financed by the charity of worshipers. The church was also equipped with interior fixtures and again consecrated in 1856. Adjustments in the pseudo-gothic style were directed by architect Bernard Grueber.
The subtle prismatic steeple of the Lady Mary church “Na trávníčku” located in the forefront is 38m high and merges into an octagon in the upper part. Its four floors are unevenly high with gothic windows. The steeple is of pyramidal shape. Amongst all Prague steeples it holds a primacy for its biggest deflection from the vertical (63 cm).
