Few buildings define Prague’s skyline as unmistakably as the Church of Our Lady before Týn. Its two dark Gothic towers rise dramatically above the colorful façades of Old Town Square, creating one of the most recognizable views in the Czech capital.
At first glance, the church looks almost like something from a fairy tale – although perhaps a slightly darker one. With its sharp spires, Gothic pinnacles and towers reaching around 80 metres into the sky, the Týn Church has watched over Prague’s Old Town for centuries.
But behind its spectacular appearance lies a much more complicated story. The church witnessed religious revolution, the Hussite movement, the defeat of the Bohemian Estates and the return of Catholic rule. It is also the final resting place of one of the most important astronomers of the Renaissance.
Why Is It Called the Church of Our Lady “Before Týn”?
The church’s full English name can sound slightly mysterious: Church of Our Lady before Týn – in Czech, Chrám Matky Boží před Týnem.
So what exactly is “Týn”?
During the Middle Ages, Prague was an important international trading centre. Foreign merchants arriving in the city used a protected merchant courtyard located just behind the church. Today it is usually known as the Týn Courtyard or Ungelt.
Merchants could stay here with their goods, and the complex was closely connected with the collection of customs duties from foreign trade.
The church stood in front of this important trading compound – hence the name Our Lady before Týn.
The Týn Courtyard still exists today. You can walk through it just a few steps from Old Town Square, although it is remarkably easy to miss among the narrow streets, passages and historic houses of Prague’s Old Town.
A Church Older Than Its Famous Gothic Towers
The church we see today was not the first to stand here.
An earlier Romanesque church served the foreign merchants who came to the nearby Týn courtyard. It was later replaced by an Early Gothic church, before construction of the monumental present building began in the 14th century.
This coincided with one of the greatest periods in Prague’s history. Under Charles IV, Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and developed into one of the most important cities in Central Europe.
Construction of the Týn Church continued for generations.
The building also reveals connections with the architectural world of Peter Parler, one of the great figures of Gothic Prague. Particularly noteworthy is the church’s magnificent northern portal from the Parler tradition, dating from around 1390.
Parler and his workshop are most famously associated with other Prague landmarks, including St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge, making the Týn Church part of the same extraordinary period of Gothic architecture that transformed medieval Prague.
Adam and Eve – The Two Towers of the Týn Church
The most famous features of the church are undoubtedly its two Gothic towers.
Both rise to around 80 metres, surrounded by smaller pointed spires that create the church’s distinctive silhouette.
Look carefully, however, and you will notice that the towers are not identical.
They are traditionally known as Adam and Eve. The southern tower – Adam – is approximately one metre taller than the northern tower, Eve.
Their slight asymmetry is easy to overlook from the middle of Old Town Square, but once you know about it, it becomes surprisingly difficult not to notice.
Together, the towers have become one of the defining images of Prague – especially after dark, when their illuminated spires appear above the roofs of the Old Town.
Why Is the Entrance So Difficult to Find?
There is something unusual about the Týn Church that surprises many first-time visitors.
Despite dominating Old Town Square, you cannot simply walk straight into it from the square.
The lower part of the church is hidden behind a row of historic buildings, including the beautiful Týn School with its Renaissance façade. To reach the church from the square, you have to pass through a narrow passage beneath the buildings.
It creates a curious architectural illusion.
From the middle of Old Town Square, the enormous Gothic towers appear almost to rise directly out of the smaller houses in front of them.
It is one of those details that makes Prague’s historic centre so fascinating – monumental medieval architecture squeezed into a dense maze of houses, courtyards and passages accumulated over centuries.
The Týn Church and the Hussites
The history of the church becomes particularly interesting in the 15th century.
Following the execution of the Czech religious reformer Jan Hus in 1415, Bohemia entered a period of religious conflict that eventually erupted into the Hussite Wars.
The Týn Church became one of Prague’s most important churches associated with the Utraquist tradition, the moderate branch that emerged from the Hussite movement.
One of the central Utraquist demands was that ordinary Christians should receive communion in both forms – bread and wine. The chalice therefore became one of the movement’s most recognizable symbols.
For decades, the Týn Church stood at the heart of this alternative religious tradition.
And that identity was once displayed very visibly on the church itself.
The Giant Golden Chalice Above Old Town Square
A huge gilded chalice once decorated the church’s façade.
Its position high above Old Town Square made the religious allegiance of the Týn Church impossible to miss.
But the political and religious situation in Bohemia changed dramatically following the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, when the Bohemian Estates were defeated by the forces of the Catholic Habsburg emperor.
The defeat was followed by the recatholicization of Bohemia, and the appearance of the Týn Church changed with it.
The Hussite symbolism disappeared.
In 1626, a sculpture of the Virgin Mary by Kašpar Bechteler was installed on the façade between the towers. According to Prague City Tourism, the enormous halo surrounding the Madonna was made from the metal of the former Hussite chalice.
It is difficult to imagine a more powerful visual symbol of Prague’s changing religious fortunes.
The symbol of the old Utraquist church was literally transformed into part of a Catholic image that still looks down over Old Town Square today.
But the story did not quite end there.
In 2018, the chalice returned to the façade of the Týn Church. A new gilded chalice was installed beneath the statue of the Virgin Mary, bringing the old Utraquist symbol back to the church almost four centuries after the original had disappeared.
Today, the two symbols coexist on the façade – a remarkable visual reminder of the different religious chapters in the history of the Týn Church and Prague itself.
Tycho Brahe – The Astronomer Buried in the Týn Church
One of the most famous people buried inside the church is the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.
Brahe was one of the greatest astronomical observers of the period before the invention of the telescope. His extraordinarily precise observations of the night sky played an important role in the development of modern astronomy.
He spent the final years of his life in Prague at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, whose fascination with astronomy, astrology, alchemy, art and science attracted an extraordinary collection of scholars and thinkers to the city.
Brahe also worked with Johannes Kepler. After Brahe’s death, Kepler used his remarkably precise observations in his work on the laws of planetary motion.
Tycho Brahe died in Prague in 1601 and was buried inside the Týn Church, where his tomb can still be seen.
His death also produced one of Prague’s most persistent historical stories.
According to the traditional version, Brahe attended a banquet and refused to leave the table to relieve himself because doing so would have violated court etiquette. The resulting bladder problems supposedly led to his death.
The reality is less certain.
Centuries later, speculation even arose that Brahe had been poisoned with mercury. Modern scientific examination of his remains, however, found that mercury poisoning was not responsible for his death. The exact cause remains uncertain.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding his final days have nevertheless ensured that the story continues to be told more than four centuries later.
From Gothic Church to Baroque Interior
The exterior of the Týn Church is unmistakably Gothic, but step inside and the atmosphere changes.
Much of the decoration visitors see today comes from the Baroque period.
One reason was a devastating fire in 1679. During the subsequent reconstruction, the main nave was lowered and given a new Baroque vault, contributing to the fascinating mixture of Gothic architecture and later Baroque decoration visible today.
The church contains numerous altars, paintings, sculptures and historic tombstones.
One of its greatest artistic treasures is the main altar from 1649, decorated with paintings by Karel Škréta, one of the most important Czech painters of the Baroque period. His works here depict the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity.
The church also contains an extraordinary survival from medieval Prague – a baptismal font dating from 1414, considered the oldest surviving baptismal font in Prague.
These details make the interior much more than simply an accompaniment to the famous Gothic towers outside.
One of the Symbols of Prague
The Church of Our Lady before Týn sometimes receives less attention than Prague’s other great Gothic monuments, particularly St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge.
Yet few buildings are as closely connected with the visual identity of the Old Town.
For centuries, its towers have risen above markets, religious conflicts, royal ceremonies, executions, political upheavals and generations of Prague residents going about their everyday lives.
And perhaps that is what makes the Týn Church so interesting.
It is not simply a beautiful Gothic church.
Its history brings together medieval merchants, Gothic architects, Hussite reformers, Habsburg rulers, Baroque artists and Renaissance astronomers – all within one of the most photographed corners of Prague.
Today, thousands of visitors cross Old Town Square every day and photograph its spectacular towers.
But next time you stand beneath them, look a little closer.
Find Adam and Eve. Look for the golden Madonna between them. Remember the enormous Hussite chalice that once occupied the same space. Then find the almost hidden entrance beneath the houses in front.
Like so many places in Prague, the most interesting details become visible only once you know where to look.
Discover the Týn Church and Prague’s Old Town
The Church of Our Lady before Týn stands right in the heart of Prague’s Old Town, making it one of the essential landmarks to see while exploring the historic centre.
But Old Town Square becomes much more interesting when you understand the stories behind the buildings surrounding it – from medieval merchants and religious reformers to astronomers, emperors and revolutions.
On our Free Walking Tour Prague, we explore the historic centre and uncover the stories behind some of Prague’s most famous landmarks.
Because in Prague, seeing the building is often only the beginning of the story.
Article by Michal, licensed Prague guide and founder of Free Walking Tour Prague.