Zvuky Prahy / Sounds of Prague

The Saint Salvator Church is a part of the complex of buildings of an old Jesuit college Klementinum where the National Library of the Czech Republic is situated. In the Middle Age, this part of the Dominican monastery was occupied by the studium generale of the the Dominican order - the basis for the future Theological faculty of the Charles University After their arrival to Prague in 1556, Jesuits founded their first college, where there worked a large number of excellent scientists and missionaries until the order was closed in 1773. Between 1578 and 1601, Jesuits built the present Most Holy Saviour church. With the help of famous architects, like Carlo Lurago, Francesco Caratti, F.M.Kaňka or the well-known sculptor of the early baroque, Jan Jiří Bendl they have been innovating it up to its present appearance. After the abolition of the Jesuit order, there was the archbishopric seminary in Klementinum as well as a part of the Charles University. The St.Salvator church has had a rich preaching and teaching tradition - among all the famous preachers, the philosopher and mathematician Bernard Bolzano can be mentioned, who worked here as a University preacher between 1805 and 1819 and significantly influenced the intelligentsia in the time of the National Revival. This tradition was broken in the time of communism, when priests, who worked here, were imprisoned or forced to leave into exile. Since February 1990, the pastoral administration aimed at students has been re-established in the Most Holy Saviour church. In October 2004, there was established the first academic parish in the Czech Republic as a categorial parish.