Lesser Town Square and St. Nicholas Church

The dome of St. Nicholas Church rises above the middle of Lesser Town Square. Before the present church, there was a parish church here named after the patron saint of merchants, sailors, and travelers; such a dedication made sense for the Lesser Town's main market. The Jesuits built a house beside it for members of the order who had already taken their final vows, and for the complex they dismantled twelve houses, a school, a rotunda, and cemeteries. Since then, the church has occupied the middle of the market, and the square has been divided into upper and lower parts.

In sixteen fifty-four, the twenty-year-old Count Václav Libštejnský of Kolovrat ordered that his entire inheritance be transferred to the Jesuits. The young count had already joined the order, intended to live by a vow of poverty, and wanted to pay for a church and a house for his fellow brothers in the Lesser Town. He gave away entire estates, depriving himself of a landowner's income.

By then, the Jesuits already had a site for construction. In sixteen twenty-three, they received an old parish church in the middle of the Lesser Town's main market. It had been consecrated in twelve eighty-three in the name of St. Nicholas. Nicholas was bishop of the city of Myra in the fourth century; he was venerated as the patron saint of merchants, sailors, and travelers. Documents do not explain why medieval townspeople chose this particular dedication, but for a church on a market square, such a saint made sense. The Baroque church inherited the former church's name.

Václav never saw the present church. He died in Rome in sixteen fifty-nine at the age of twenty-five. After his death, the bequeathed property went toward construction. The Jesuits built a professed house here—a residence for members of the order who had already taken their final vows—and an enormous church. For the complex, they demolished twelve houses, the old school, the Rotunda of St. Wenceslas, and closed the cemeteries. The building occupied the middle of the market and fixed the division of Lesser Town Square into upper and lower parts.

Václav's relative, František Karel Libštejnský, had a preemptive right to buy back the bequeathed lands. He worked to ensure that the family's contribution remained visible, added money, and set conditions: the Kolovrat family would receive a family burial vault, and their coat of arms would appear on the church. The large coat of arms above the main portal is the result of this deal. Václav gave up his inheritance for the order; his relative made sure that the family name still appeared on the façade.

The construction deprived Lesser Town residents of another structure: along with the old church, the Jesuits dismantled the city belfry, where space had been set aside for a fire watch. The Lesser Town councilors, responsible for fire warning, refused to lose their observation tower. The townspeople still remembered two devastating fires of the sixteenth century. Through the imperial chancellery, the councilors secured an order requiring the Jesuits to build a replacement at their own expense and hand it over to the city.

The order built a slender tower beside the church dome, but tried to connect it to the church crypt by an underground passage. A lawsuit over this entrance had been ongoing since seventeen fifty-two. Historians assume that a direct passage would have allowed the Jesuits to retain control of the tower; the documents contain no exact explanation. The court ruled in favor of the city. The Jesuits had to brick up the passage, and the tower remained municipal.

It was completed in seventeen fifty-five. Until eighteen ninety-one, a watchman lived at the top: in case of fire, he indicated the direction with a red flag by day and a lantern by night. Services are now held in the church, Charles University occupies the former professed house, and the municipal tower has a separate entrance. The Kolovrat family coat of arms survives above the church portal; above the tower door are the coat of arms of the Lesser Town and its own city number.