Church of Ss. Cyril & Methodius

Right here is one of the largest churches in Bohemia, and the entire district around you carries a secret in its name. When Empress Caroline Augusta donated money to build this basilica in the 1850s, grateful locals decided the whole neighborhood should honor her. Karlín comes from Karolinenthal, Carolina Valley. The church and the district share the same patron. Look at those twin towers rising 74 meters above the square. Construction started on June 10, 1854, when Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth laid the foundation stone. 9 years later, on October 18, 1863, it was finally consecrated. The date was no accident: exactly 1,000 years had passed since the Slavic missionaries Cyril and Methodius brought Christianity to Moravia. The decoration took even longer. Czech and Austrian artists spent decades painting the ceilings and creating the bronze entrance doors. The organ alone had 3,000 pipes, the largest in the country at the time. Some artists quit over payment disputes. František Ženíšek walked out when his fee proved too low. Maxmilian Pirner left after arguing about how to paint a saint's death. Check the entrance gate closely. 2 figures kneel there: entrepreneur Čeněk Daněk and mayor Josef Götzl. They were major donors, and they made sure everyone would remember. The church survived the devastating 2002 flood that destroyed much of this neighborhood.