The Significant religious building of the St. Apollinaire Church is an historical landmark. It is located in St. Apollinaire Street in Prague’s New Town and is essentially a gothic building from the second half of 14th century. The Czech King - Charles IV founded this church in 1362 and the completion of the church was officially dated as 1376. It was used by the collegiate canonry that was transferred to Prague from Sadská town.
The interior of the church hides a partly preserved gothic wall painting from around 1390. Part of the church fittings comes from the churches of St. Mary and St. Charles the Great in the Karlov district.
The church of St Apollinaire underwent a baroque facelift in 1671 and later in 1757-1768. It became a parish church in 1784. A partial renovation of the gothic style was carried out in 1893-1898 and was led by the architect Josef Mocker.
A steeple-tower of 42m in height is located on the south-west corner of the church and has a square floor plan (9m x 9m). The church and its steeple stands on a high ground, which has been called ‘Větrov’ since anyone can remember. It is therefore a significant dominant feature of the area. On its highest floor the steeple morphs into an octahedral shape. The third and the fourth floors have bigger gothic pointed windows with a single tracery whereas the lower windows are rectangular and are the work of Mocker’s reconstruction. The entry from under the organ-loft to the tower and the inside stairs were adjusted during this reconstruction as well. The roof of the steeple comes from the same time period.
The bell, named Apollinaire, is suspended in the tower’s belfry. The bell weighs 180kg and was created in 1867 by Jan Jiří Kühner from Lesser Town. The other was confiscated during the 1st World War.
