St. Longin's Rotunda (Prague, Na Rybníčku) () is one of the few preserved romanesque rotundas in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It was founded in the 12th century as a parish church for a village called "Rybníček" which was there before the founding of the Prague New Town in the middle of the 14th century. Originally, it was a

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

temple before the arrival of Christianity, when it was transformed into a Catholic chapel. Up until the 14th century, it was consecrated to St Stephen, before Charles IV founded the New Town and changed the consecration to

Saint Longinus Longinus (Greek: Λογγίνος) is the name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance, who in apostolic and some modern Christian traditions is described as a convert to Christianity. His name first appeared in the apoc ...

, who was one of the men who took part in Jesus' crucifixion, and supposedly pierced the side of Jesus. Longinus came to deeply regret this action, causing him to desert the army and become a hermit, later leading to his arrest and execution. The rotunda was nearly demolished in the 19th century while the nearby street (Na Rybníčku) was being built, but it was saved by

František Palacký František Palacký (; 14 June 1798 – 26 May 1876) was a Czech historian and politician. He was the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation". Life František Palacký was born on 14 June 1798, at ...

References

{{Coord, 50.0765, N, 14.4256, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Round churches Churches in Prague

See also

References