Sts Cyril and Methodius Church

Sts Cyril and Methodius Church in Resslova Street was built in 1730–1735 as the Roman Catholic church of St Charles Borromeo in Baroque style from a design by the architects Paul Ignaz Bayer and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. In 1783 the church was abolished and served as storage. In 1933–1934 it was handed over to the Orthodox church which has taken care ever since. In 1935 it was dedicated to Sts Cyril and Methodius.PV [Pavel Vlček], Kostel sv. Cyrila a Metoděje, in: Růžena Baťková a kol., Umělecké památky Prahy. Nové Město, Vyšehrad, Vinohrady, Academia, Praha, 1998, pp. 95–97; Jiří Padevět, Průvodce protektorátní Prahou: Místa – události – lidé, Praha: Academia 2013, p. 384.

The church played a key role in Czech history in 1942. After the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heyedrich on 27 May 1942, Bishop Gorazd, parish priest Václav Čikl, chaplain Vladimír Petřek, chairman of the board of elders Jan Sonnevend and parish clerks Karel Louda and Václav Ornest, who all cooperated with the resistance, provided shelter to the parachutists who participated in the assassination. One by one, Jaroslav Švarc, Jan Kubiš, Josef Valčík, Jan Hrubý, Josef Bublík, Adolf Opálka and Josef Gabčík took refuge in the crypt of the church.Jiří Padevět, Průvodce protektorátní Prahou. Místa – události – lidé, Academia, Praha, 2013, p. 385. On 18 June 1942 the church was surrounded by SS units. During the following struggle lasting for eight hours all the troopers died. A period of harsh repressions known as the Heydrichiada followed, aimed against both real and presumed collaborators of the parachutists and their family members.

There are still signs of the shooting on the church from 18 June 1942. During the bomb attack on 14 February 1945 the church was not damaged much despite its location on Resslova Street which was hit in many other places. In his picture Josef Sudek captured the side facade on Resslova Street, while war-time damage is hardly noticeable in a distant view from Václavská Street.

The National Monuments to the Heroes of the Heydrichiada is found today in the church.