Rising with dramatic majesty above the eastern edge of Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti) in the historic heart of Prague, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Prague (known in Czech as Kostel Matky Bozi pred Tynem or simply Tynsky chram) stands as one of the most visually unforgettable and historically charged Gothic monuments in Central Europe. What immediately surprises every first-time visitor standing on Old Town Square is that the entire lower western facade of this monumental basilica does not stand open to the plaza, but is built directly into and concealed behind the fourteenth-century Gothic stone arcades of the Tyn School (Tynska skola) and neighboring Renaissance burgher houses. Yet soaring directly above the red tile roofs of those townhouses are the church's two colossal 80-meter limestone towers known as Adam and Eve, crowned with dark slate spires and rings of needle-sharp gilt pinnacles that define the silhouette of Prague.
Founded around the year 1135 as a Romanesque hospice chapel for foreign merchants lodging at the fortified customs courtyard of Tyn (Ungelt) directly behind the church, and rebuilt on a grand scale from 1365 as a three-aisled High Gothic basilica during the Golden Age of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn has witnessed nearly nine centuries of Bohemian religious and civic drama. For two hundred years between 1419 and 1620, it served as the premier spiritual seat of moderate Utraquist Hussitism, where Archbishop Jan Rokycana preached and King George of Podebrady mounted a giant gilded chalice upon the western gable; returned to Catholicism after 1620, its soaring Gothic interior was enriched with luminous Baroque canvases by Karel Skreta (1649), Prague's oldest surviving pipe organ by Heinrich Mundt (1673), and the revered red marble tomb of the great Danish imperial astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 to 1601).
IVeneration of Our Lady of the Assumption, the Meaning of Before Tyn, and the Transformation of the Hussite Chalice
From its twelfth-century origins to the present day, the sanctuary has been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Mystery of Her Glorious Assumption into Heaven (Nanebevzeti Panny Marie / Our Lady of the Assumption). Its distinctive medieval epithet before Tyn (pred Tynem) derives from the Old Czech word tyn (sharing the same Indo-European root as the German word Zaun for fence and the English word town), which denoted a fenced or walled enclosure. Directly behind the three eastern apses of the church lies the medieval fortified merchants' courtyard known as the Tynsky dvur or Ungelt: the royal customs yard where foreign merchant caravans arriving in Prague from Germany, Italy, France, Poland, and the Levant were legally required to lodge, pay royal customs duties, and place their goods under the protection of the King of Bohemia. Because the church serving this international merchants' hospital and customs quarter stood directly in front of the western gate of the Tyn enclosure, it was recorded in medieval charters as the Church of Our Lady before Tyn.
Within the eastern sanctuary, the primary liturgical focus of Catholicism is the monumental Early Baroque High Altar (1649) enshrining the celebrated oil painting of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by the foremost seventeenth-century Bohemian Baroque master Karel Skreta (1610 to 1674). In this luminous composition, choirs of angels bear the Virgin Mary upward from her open stone sepulcher toward the Holy Trinity amidst golden celestial light, while the Twelve Apostles below gaze upward in awe and devotion. Directly above the main canvas in the upper tier of the high altar hangs a second painting by Karel Skreta depicting the Coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity.
Alongside Karel Skreta's Baroque canvases, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn preserves priceless medieval Gothic sculptures of profound theological and artistic importance. Enshrined on a side altar in the north aisle is the carved wood statue of the Tyn Madonna and Child (Madona Tynska) dating from around 1420, which portrays the Virgin Mary with gentle, contemplative grace in the classic Bohemian Beautiful Style (Krasny sloh). At the eastern end of the north aisle stands the polychrome wood sculpture group of the Tyn Calvary (Tynska Kalvarie) carved around 1410 by the anonymous medieval master known to art history as the Master of the Tyn Calvary (Mistr Tynske Kalvarie), depicting the crucified Christ flanked by the grieving Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist on the eve of the Hussite era.
Marian devotion at Tyn Church also embodies a remarkable chapter of Bohemian religious history visible high upon the western gable between the twin towers of Adam and Eve more than fifty meters above the street. In 1466, under the reign of the Utraquist Hussite monarch King George of Podebrady (Jiri z Podebrad), Hussite burghers placed a life-size stone statue of King George in the gable niche together with a colossal gilded copper Chalice (Kalich) proclaiming the right of all lay believers to receive Holy Communion under both kinds of bread and wine. Following the Catholic Habsburg victory at the Battle of White Mountain (1620), on January 17, 1626, the giant Hussite chalice was taken down and its gilded copper was melted and recast directly into the radiant golden halo and relief of Our Lady of the Assumption holding the Christ Child that still gleams from the western gable today.
Beyond its Marian dedication, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn honors the national patron saints of Bohemia and preserves the memory of towering historical figures. Its side aisles house altars dedicated to Saint Wenceslas (Svaty Vaclav), the martyred tenth-century duke and patron saint of the Czech nation (adorned with sculpted figures by Jan Jiri Bendl from 1660), Saint John the Baptist (with an altarpiece by Karel Skreta), Saint Joseph, Saints Barbara and Apollonia, and the Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius. Equally famous across the world of science and letters is the tomb and red marble funerary monument of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 to 1601), mounted on the first southeastern pillar of the central nave beside the sanctuary.
IINearly Nine Centuries of History: From the Twelfth-Century Ungelt Hospice Chapel Through Emperor Charles IV and the Hussite Era to the Present
The architectural history of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn unfolds across three successive church buildings erected on the same sacred site on the right bank of the Vltava River. The earliest documented sanctuary was founded around 1135 during the reign of Duke Sobeslav I of Bohemia as a modest Romanesque stone chapel attached to the hospital and hostel serving foreign merchants at the Ungelt (Tyn) courtyard. As the settlement around Old Town Square grew into a prosperous royal municipality in the thirteenth century, the Romanesque chapel proved too small and was replaced during the second half of the thirteenth century (c. 1256 to 1300) by a larger three-aisled Early Gothic church whose floor level lay roughly two meters below the present square.
The decisive transformation that created the monumental edifice standing today began during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia Charles IV (reigned 1346 to 1378), who elevated Prague into the imperial capital of Central Europe. Around 1365, the wealthy patrician families and merchant guilds of the Old Town of Prague pooled vast financial resources to construct an entirely new High Gothic three-aisled basilica as the proud civic counterpart to St. Vitus Cathedral on Prague Castle hill. The project engaged the two most prestigious imperial building workshops in fourteenth-century Europe: the workshop of Matthias of Arras (Matyas z Arrasu), which influenced the layout of the three polygonal eastern apses, and the workshop of Peter Parler (Petr Parler), which designed the lofty nave clerestory, the intricate window tracery of the main apse, and the celebrated sculpted Northern Portal around 1390.
- c. 1135 and late 13th centuryRomanesque chapel of the Ungelt merchants' court and first Early Gothic churchAround 1135 Duke Sobeslav I establishes a Romanesque Marian chapel for foreign traders at the Tyn (Ungelt) customs yard; in the late thirteenth century it is replaced by a three-aisled Early Gothic church.
- 1365 to c. 1390Foundation of the High Gothic basilica with the participation of Peter Parler's workshopOld Town patricians begin the monumental High Gothic basilica in 1365 under Emperor Charles IV; the choir is vaulted by 1380 and Peter Parler's workshop completes the Northern Portal with its Passion relief around 1390.
- 1414 and 1419 to 1471Casting of Prague's oldest pewter baptismal font and era as the principal Utraquist Hussite sanctuaryThe pewter baptismal font is cast in 1414; from 1419 the church becomes the center of moderate Utraquist Hussitism and serves from 1427 to 1471 as the seat of elected Hussite Archbishop Jan Rokycana.
- 1457 to 1466Completion of the nave roof using King Ladislaus's bridal timber and erection of the northern tower EveOak timber originally felled for the wedding pavilion of King Ladislaus the Posthumous (who died in 1457) is used to roof the nave; under Hussite King George of Podebrady, the western gable with its golden chalice and the 80-meter northern tower Eve are completed by 1466.
- 1493 and 1506 to 1511Master Matej Rejsek carves the stone Baldachyn and completes the southern tower AdamLate Gothic architect and sculptor Matej Rejsek carves the ornate stone canopy inside the north aisle in 1493 and directs the completion of the wider 80-meter southern tower Adam in 1511.
- October 1601State funeral and entombment of Danish imperial astronomer Tycho BraheFollowing his death in Prague on October 24, 1601, imperial astronomer Tycho Brahe is buried with grand ceremony beside the southern sanctuary pillar beneath a red marble effigy stele.
- 1621, 1626, 1649, 1673, and 1679Return to Catholicism, Karel Skreta altarpieces, Heinrich Mundt organ, and Baroque nave vaultAfter the Battle of White Mountain (1620), the Hussite chalice is recast into the Marian gable relief (1626), Karel Skreta paints the high altarpiece (1649), Heinrich Mundt builds the pipe organ (1673), and a Baroque nave vault replaces the burned Gothic ceiling after a 1679 lightning strike.
- 1819, 1992, and 2000Reconstruction of the north spire, UNESCO World Heritage inscription, and organ restorationThe north tower spire is faithfully rebuilt after an 1819 fire; in 1992 the church becomes part of the UNESCO World Heritage Historic Centre of Prague (Ref. 616), and in 2000 the restored 1673 Mundt organ is rededicated.
The life, death, and forensic investigation of astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 to 1601) at Tyn Church. One of the most compelling scientific narratives associated with the Church of Our Lady before Tyn concerns the tomb of Tycho Brahe, the Danish nobleman and greatest naked-eye observational astronomer in history. Invited to Prague in 1599 by Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to serve as Imperial Mathematician, Brahe worked alongside his young German assistant Johannes Kepler until falling acutely ill after a banquet at the residence of Baron Peter Vok of Rosenberg and dying on October 24, 1601 at age fifty-four. Although Brahe was a Danish Lutheran, Emperor Rudolf II ordered an extraordinary chivalric funeral procession on November 4, 1601 and granted him burial beside the sanctuary of Tyn Church (then governed by tolerant Utraquists), where his family erected his red Slivenec marble effigy monument inscribed with his Latin motto Esse potius quam haberi (To be, rather than to seem to be). For centuries rumors persisted that Tycho Brahe had died of mercury poisoning; however, two scientific exhumations of his tin coffin at Tyn Church in 1901 and in November 2010 (conducted by a joint Czech-Danish interdisciplinary team using neutron activation and proton microprobe analysis on his bones and beard hairs) proved conclusively that mercury levels in his body were far below lethal thresholds and that he died naturally of acute uremia caused by kidney failure.
IIIThree-Aisled High Gothic Basilica, the Asymmetric Twin Towers of Adam and Eve, and Gothic-Baroque Sacred Treasures
In its structural geometry, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn is a three-aisled High Gothic basilica built without a transept, measuring 52 meters in length and 28 meters in width, with the central nave rising 22 meters and the two side aisles reaching 14 meters in height. At the eastern end, all three aisles terminate in three tall polygonal apses illuminated by soaring lancet windows filled with Rayonnant stone tracery. Because a fierce fire sparked by lightning in 1679 caused the original fourteenth-century Gothic vault of the central nave to collapse, late seventeenth-century builders reconstructed the central nave ceiling roughly one meter lower using an Early Baroque barrel vault with lunette windows, whereas the northern and southern side aisles still preserve their original fourteenth-century High Gothic quadripartite rib vaults complete with sculpted heraldic and foliate keystones.
The most extraordinary urban feature of Tyn Church is that its lower western facade is completely embedded behind the Tyn School (Tynska skola). Rather than demolishing the medieval merchant houses along Old Town Square to create an open parvis in front of the church, fourteenth-century planners preserved the three-story Tyn School with its seven-bay Gothic ground-floor arcade directly on the edge of the square. Seen from Old Town Square, this creates a breathtaking three-tiered architectural tableau: at street level stand the fourteenth-century Gothic stone arches and sixteenth-century Renaissance sgraffito facades of the Tyn School; rising behind them is the traceried Gothic western gable of the church with its glowing golden relief of the Virgin Mary; and towering above all are the two 80-meter twin spires of Adam and Eve.
Although both western towers reach an identical height of 80 meters and are crowned by steep slate-clad timber spires ringed by two tiers of four corner spirelets (eight needle-sharp pinnacles around each main spire), their masonry shafts are intentionally unequal in width. The southern tower (completed in 1511 under Matej Rejsek) is roughly 1 meter wider and more robust in its stone moldings, earning the name 'Adam' (the masculine principle standing on the sunny southern side to protect the household), while the slightly slimmer northern tower (completed in 1466) is called 'Eve' (the graceful feminine principle).
Opening onto narrow Tynska Lane along the north wall is the church's finest sculptural entrance, created around 1390 by the workshop of master builder Peter Parler. Beneath an open rib-vaulted porch whose stone corbels bear portraits of King Wenceslas IV and Queen Sofia, the pointed tympanum above the double doorway presents a dramatic three-part relief of Christ's Passion: the Flagellation, the Crowning with Thorns, and the Crucifixion on Calvary (the original stone relief is preserved in the National Gallery in Prague, with an exact cast installed on the portal).
Standing in the northern side aisle is a four-pillared Late Gothic stone canopy carved in 1493 by master builder Matej Rejsek originally to shelter the tomb of the Italian Bishop Lucian of Mirandola (who came to Prague to ordain Utraquist priests). Chiseled like delicate stone lacework with intersecting ogee arches, finials, and statuettes of saints, the canopy now frames the altar of Saint Luke, patron of the Prague Painters' Guild.
The southern side aisle houses a remarkable pewter baptismal font cast in 1414 in the shape of an inverted bell resting on three lion feet and decorated around its basin with high-relief figures of the Twelve Apostles; it is the oldest surviving baptismal font in Prague. Against a central nave pier stands the early fifteenth-century Gothic stone pulpit from which Hussite Archbishop Jan Rokycana preached.
In the western choir loft stands the oldest surviving pipe organ in Prague, built in 1673 by German organ master Heinrich Mundt with 30 stops, two manuals, and an ornate black-and-gold carved wooden case. Mounted against the first southeastern nave pillar near the sanctuary is the 1601 red Slivenec marble effigy stele of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in full knightly armor.
| Architectural Element / Treasure | Date and Master Creator | Location and Heritage Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Twin Western Towers Adam and Eve | 1466 (northern tower Eve) and 1511 (southern tower Adam, Matej Rejsek) | Western facade rising 80 meters above Old Town Square; deliberate 1-meter width asymmetry crowned by 8 corner spirelets on each tower |
| Northern Portal and Passion Tympanum | c. 1390; workshop of Peter Parler | Northern exterior wall on Tynska Lane; supreme masterpiece of late fourteenth-century Bohemian Beautiful Style stone sculpture |
| Pewter Baptismal Font and Tyn Calvary | Baptismal font 1414; Tyn Calvary wood sculpture c. 1410 | South and north aisles; oldest extant baptismal font in Prague and expressive pre-Hussite polychrome Gothic wood sculpture |
| Late Gothic Stone Canopy (Baldachyn) | 1493; Late Gothic master Matej Rejsek | Northern side aisle (Altar of Saint Luke); intricate lace-like Late Gothic stone canopy carved for Bishop Lucian of Mirandola |
| Tomb and Red Marble Stele of Tycho Brahe | 1601; carved red Slivenec marble | First southeastern nave pillar near the sanctuary; world-renowned monument of the history of astronomy honoring Tycho Brahe |
| High Altarpiece and Baroque Pipe Organ | Karel Skreta canvas (1649); Heinrich Mundt organ (1673) | Eastern sanctuary and western loft; monumental Assumption painting and Prague's oldest functioning historic pipe organ |
IVSacred Landscape and Orientation
It should be stated clearly that the fourteenth-century Gothic builders of Emperor Charles IV's Prague did not practice East Asian geomancy (Feng Shui). The siting and layout of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn were governed by medieval Christian liturgical orientation (aligning the nave along an East-West axis with the high altar facing the rising eastern sun as a symbol of the Risen Christ) and by the medieval urban topography of the Ungelt merchants' court and Old Town Square. The observations below offer a comparative reading through the lens of traditional landscape form analysis practiced at the Van Dao Duong library.
Viewed across the macro-topography of the Prague basin at coordinates 50.0877 degrees North, 14.4227 degrees East (approximately 195 meters above sea level), the Church of Our Lady before Tyn occupies an elevated, flood-free river terrace at the heart of the Old Town (Stare Mesto) peninsula, which is embraced on the west and north by the sweeping bow-shaped curve of the Vltava River. Moreover, the church stands directly along the ceremonial Royal Route (Kralovska cesta), the historic coronation meridian running from the Powder Tower (Prasna brana) down Celetna Street, opening onto Old Town Square, and crossing Charles Bridge up to Prague Castle (Hradcany) on the western ridge.
In terms of Bright Hall (Minh Duong), Rear Backing (Hau Cham), and Yin-Yang polarity, the spatial setting of Tyn Church exhibits three striking qualities. First is the combination of an Expansive Outer Bright Hall with a Sheltering Inner Screen Wall: stretching before the western facade is the 9,000-square-meter expanse of Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti), acting as a grand Outer Bright Hall that gathers civic vitality from all parts of the capital; yet rather than exposing the church portals directly to the noise and winds of the open plaza, the three-story Tyn School (Tynska skola) stands directly in front of the lower facade like a protective stone screen (An Son), guiding pilgrims through a narrow vaulted passage before they enter the sanctuary and thereby preserving a calm, wind-sheltered interior atmosphere (tang phong tu khi). Second is the Solid Rear Backing of the Ungelt Courtyard: directly behind the three eastern apses lies the walled quadrilateral enclosure of the medieval Ungelt (Tynsky dvur) customs court, anchoring the eastern sanctuary like a secure rear pillow. Third is the Solar-Lunar Equilibrium of the Twin Towers Adam and Eve: the broader, sturdier southern tower (Adam) stands on the warm sun-facing South (associated with Yang energy), while the slimmer northern tower (Eve) rises on the shaded North (associated with Yin energy), forming a balanced pair of skyward pillars above Old Town Square.
VSolemnity of the Assumption, Feast of Saint Wenceslas, Tycho Brahe Commemoration, and 1673 Mundt Organ Concerts
As the premier historic Roman Catholic parish church of the Old Town of Prague (within the Archdiocese of Prague), the Church of Our Lady before Tyn maintains a rich annual cycle of solemn liturgies, Eucharistic adoration, and sacred music that unites Catholic tradition with the cultural and scientific heritage of the Czech capital.
| Season / Date | Calendar System | Feast or Commemorative Event | Distinctive Liturgical and Cultural Observances at Tyn Church |
|---|---|---|---|
| March or April annually | Roman Catholic Liturgical Calendar | Holy Week, Paschal Triduum, and Easter Sunday (Velikonoce) | Solemn Holy Week liturgies celebrated beneath the early fifteenth-century Tyn Calvary sculpture group and the Easter Vigil Mass accompanied by the historic Baroque organ. |
| August 15 annually | Gregorian Calendar (Catholic Solemnity) | Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Slavnost Nanebevzeti Panny Marie - Patronal Feast) | The supreme patronal feast of the basilica: Pontifical High Mass celebrated before Karel Skreta's 1649 Assumption altarpiece with full choir, orchestra, and organ. |
| September 28 annually | Gregorian Calendar (Czech Statehood Day) | Feast of Saint Wenceslas (Svaty Vaclav), Patron Saint of Bohemia and the Czech Nation | Solemn Mass for national peace and unity at the Altar of Saint Wenceslas (featuring Jan Jiri Bendl's 1660 sculptures) concluding with the twelfth-century Saint Wenceslas Chorale. |
| October 24 annually | Gregorian Calendar | Memorial Anniversary of the Death of Astronomer Tycho Brahe (October 24, 1601) | Astronomers, scholars from Charles University, Danish diplomatic envoys, and international visitors gather beside Tycho Brahe's red marble stele in the south aisle to lay wreaths. |
| December (Advent and December 24-25) | Gregorian Calendar (Catholic Liturgical Season) | Advent Rorate Masses, 1673 Organ Concerts, and Christmas Midnight Mass (Vanoce) | While Old Town Square outside hosts Prague's famous Christmas Market, the basilica celebrates candlelit early-morning Rorate Masses, sacred concerts on the 1673 Heinrich Mundt organ, and Christmas Midnight Mass. |
Experiencing the 1673 Heinrich Mundt Baroque Pipe Organ inside Tyn Church. For lovers of sacred music, one of the most memorable experiences in Prague is attending a sung liturgy or sacred organ recital inside the Church of Our Lady before Tyn to hear the authentic voice of Prague's oldest surviving pipe organ, built in 1673 by Heinrich Mundt. Following a meticulous restoration by the Johannes Klais Orgelbau workshop in Bonn, Germany, completed in 2000, the instrument preserves its seventeenth-century pipework, slider chests, and unequal meantone temperament, filling the vaulted nave with the exact timbral brilliance heard in seventeenth-century Bohemia.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti 14 / Celetna 5), Old Town (Stare Mesto), Prague 1, 110 00 Prague, Czech Republic
- Getting there
- The Church of Our Lady before Tyn is located on the eastern side of Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti), Stare Mesto, Prague 1, directly opposite the Old Town Hall and the Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj), and roughly 400 meters south of the Old-New Synagogue (Staronova synagoga). Visitors can take Prague Metro Line A (green line) to Staromestska station or Line A / Line B (yellow line) to Mustek station; from either station it is a 400-meter (5-minute) walk along historic pedestrian streets to Old Town Square.
- Coordinates
- 50.0877, 14.4227
The Church of Our Lady before Tyn is an active and reverent Roman Catholic parish church open to visitors for prayer and sightseeing from Tuesday through Saturday (mornings from 10:00 to 12:00, afternoons from 15:00 to 17:00) and on Sunday (from 10:30 to 12:00 following morning Mass; closed to tourist visits on Mondays, though always open to worshippers during scheduled daily Masses). Note that the sole public entrance does not face the open street directly: visitors must walk into the Gothic stone arcade on the ground floor of the Tyn School (Tynska skola, House No. 604 on the eastern side of Old Town Square, situated between outdoor cafe terraces) and pass through the vaulted corridor leading to the church's western portal. Admission is free with a recommended voluntary donation (around 50 CZK) for monument conservation. Modest attire and silence are required, and photography or filming inside the church interior is strictly prohibited.
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?Quick Questions
Why is this sanctuary called the 'Church of Our Lady before Tyn' (Kostel Matky Bozi pred Tynem)?
In Old Czech, the word 'Tyn' (related to the English word 'town' and the German word 'Zaun') means a fenced or walled enclosure. Immediately behind the eastern apses of the church lies the medieval fortified merchants' courtyard and royal customs station known as the Tynsky dvur (or Ungelt), where foreign merchants arriving in Prague were required to lodge and pay customs duties. Because the church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built directly in front of the western gate of this walled merchants' yard, it became known as the Church of Our Lady before Tyn.
Why are the 80-meter twin towers of Tyn Church unequal in width and called Adam and Eve?
Although both western towers rise to the same height of 80 meters, they were completed in different decades and intentionally built with asymmetric proportions: the southern tower (completed in 1511 under architect Matej Rejsek) is roughly 1 meter wider and features heavier stone moldings than the northern tower (completed in 1466 under King George of Podebrady). In Central European Gothic architectural symbolism, the broader southern tower represents the masculine principle (Adam) standing on the sunlit southern side to protect the family, while the more slender northern tower represents the feminine principle (Eve).
How do visitors find the entrance to the Church of Our Lady before Tyn from Old Town Square?
Because the lower western facade of the church is built into and concealed behind the fourteenth-century Gothic arcades of the Tyn School (Tynska skola) and adjacent townhouses along Old Town Square, many visitors walk around the building without spotting the main doors. To enter the church, go to the Gothic stone arcade of the Tyn School on the eastern edge of Old Town Square (House No. 604, between the outdoor restaurant terraces) and walk through the narrow vaulted stone passage that leads directly to the western entrance of the basilica.
What happened to the giant golden Hussite chalice that once stood on the western gable of the church?
From 1419 to 1620, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn served as the principal Utraquist Hussite sanctuary in Prague. In 1466, the Hussite monarch King George of Podebrady mounted a colossal gilded copper chalice in the western gable niche between the two towers as the emblem of Utraquist faith. Following the Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain (1620), in 1626 the giant chalice was taken down and melted to cast the gilded bronze relief of Our Lady of the Assumption holding the Christ Child that shines from the gable today.
Where is the tomb of astronomer Tycho Brahe located inside the church, and how did he die?
The tomb of the celebrated Danish nobleman and imperial court astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 to 1601), who served Emperor Rudolf II and mentored Johannes Kepler in Prague, lies beneath the stone floor beside the first southern nave pillar near the sanctuary, marked by a carved 1601 red Slivenec marble effigy stele showing him in knightly armor. Although rumors long suggested he was poisoned with mercury, an international forensic examination of his remains exhumed from Tyn Church in 2010 proved that mercury concentrations in his bones and beard were non-lethal and that he died naturally on October 24, 1601 from acute kidney failure.
What are the most important artworks to see inside the Church of Our Lady before Tyn?
Alongside Tycho Brahe's 1601 red marble monument and Peter Parler's c. 1390 Northern Portal relief of the Passion on the exterior, the interior houses five major artistic treasures: Karel Skreta's monumental 1649 high altarpiece of the 'Assumption of the Virgin Mary'; Matej Rejsek's lace-like 1493 Late Gothic stone canopy (Baldachyn) in the north aisle; the 1414 pewter baptismal font (the oldest in Prague); the c. 1410 polychrome wood 'Tyn Calvary' sculpture group; and the 1673 Heinrich Mundt Baroque pipe organ in the western loft.