Chronology

927 CE

• Prince Wenceslas of Bohemia founds the church of St Lawrence

12th century

• archeologically-confirmed erection of the rotunda of St Lawrence

1232

• probable date that the Knights Templars established themselves next to St Lawrence’s church

1312 – 1313

• after abolition of the Order of the Knights Templar, the church and the surrounding courtyard is purchased by the Order of St John, which sold it the following year to the Dominican nuns of St Anne’s Convent at Újezd

1313

• the Templar church is demolished and the building of a new Gothic church commenced

1372

• first wall paintings in the chancel (particularly the Lamentation of Christ, The Seven Sacraments, The Adoration of the Magi) – which are unique works by the Master of the Třeboň Altar

• when completed, the convent church dedicated to St Anne was one of the most outstanding examples of mendicant architecture in the Old Town of Prague

First half of 15th century

• St Anne’s Church is the only Prague church to have been unaffected by the Hussite Wars; it is left bankrupt by them, however.

1553

• 1553 the chronicler Václav Hájek of Libočany is interred in the convent, where he spent the last years of his life

1616

• the church is repaired with the assistance of Queen Anne, the wife of King Matthias

1676

• a new nuns’ gallery is built

1727

• the stucco decoration of the interior is completed

1782

• during the reign of Joseph II the convent church is closed, deconsecrated and sold for 19 thousand guilders

1795

• the building is acquired by the court printer Johann Ferdinand von Schönfeld, who sets up a printing works here in 1816

1880 – 1884

• the three upper storeys of the tower are demolished along with the Gothic vaulting

1956 – 1957

• archaeological survey of the entire eastern part of the church

1970s onwards

• occasional repairs carried out to the external walls and the roofs

1992 – 1993

• reconstruction of the central wing for the ballet company of the National Theatre

1997

• the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97 is established and one of its main projects is “reconstruction of St Anne’s Church”

• the Foundation acquires a 99 year lease of the church from the National Theatre for the symbolic rent of 1 crown

1998 – 2004

• reconstruction of the church in three phases according to plans by the architect Eva Jiřičná

• a drawing by Adriena Šimotová ”Ecstatic Figure” is installed as an “altar picture”

2004

• the Prague Crossroads inaugurates its activity on 5 October, on the occasion of the formal presentation of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97 Prize to Professor Petr Vopěnka