Accommodation near Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral Prague 2

Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral (Chrám svatých Cyrila a Metoděje)

The Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Nové Město, Prague, Czech Republic, is the principal church in the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

The existing structure had its origins as a Roman Catholic church built between 1730 and 1736 by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, dedicated to Charles Borromeo, archbishop and cardinal of Milan in the 16th century.

In 1942, during World War II, the cathedral was the scene of the last stand of a number of Czech and Slovak patriots who, in Operation Anthropoid, had assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi SS Obergruppenführer and General of Police. Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld was in command of the troops that stormed the church on 18 June 1942. After a fierce gun battle, they committed suicide to avoid capture. Presently there is a museum in the church crypt dedicated to them as national heroes.