The parish church of St. Anthony of Padua is a significant view point in the centre of Holešovice. In the past the mass for local residents was held in the nearby church of St. Climent. This church however was not convenient for the low capacity. That is why the association representing the church construction in Holešovice was established.
The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1908 and the construction works of this pseudo-gothic church were carried out in 1908-1911 by Arch František Mikš. The church was consecrated on 25th October 1914 by the Prague cardinal Lev Skrbensky from Hříště. The front face with two towers completes the area of Strossmayerovo Square on the east side.
The towers are 59m tall and have four floors. The lower two floors are separated on the facia by the cornices. The towers’ windows with lancets are different sizes and shapes on every floor. The largest windows are on the top floor. The roof has the shape of neo-gothic taper square.
In total eight bells were confiscated from both the towers during the First and the Second World Wars. The tower on the right side today houses the bell called Climent molded in 1572 by bell-founder Brikcí from Cimperk. The bell’s weight is around 490 kg. The second tower houses the bell so called the Bell of Freedom, which is a copy of the American Bell of Freedom from 1753. This bell was originally a present from the president Thomas Woodrow Wilson to T.G. Masaryk in memory of the Independence Declaration of the Czech Republic.
The Sanctus bell turret also houses one bell (about 22 kg in weight) made by the bell-founder Karel Bellmann from Prague. This bell was originated in the second quarter of the 18th century and was brought here from the church of St. Climent in Holešovice-Bubny.
