St Nicholas Church, Lesser town, Prague

Viewed from the castle.

The site was originally a Gothic Church of St. Nicolas but it was demolished, and the foundation-stone for the new one was laid down in 1673.

The church is an important part of the Prague panorama on the left side of the river Vltava, and is the most important High Baroque building in Prague. The impressive cupola is more than 70 metres high and the nave of the church has a ceiling with one of the largest frescoes in Europe, painted on an area of 1500 square metres.

The frescoes were painted by Viennese artist Jan Lukas Kracker. He reportedly didn´t want anyone to see the paintings till it was finished and nobody could even disturb him when he was working. One Jesuit crept into the church and hid behind a pillar, but the artist saw him and painted him on the fresco to punish him. You can still see the curious Jesuit portrayed there hiding behind the pillar.