The Church and Monastery of Our Lady of the Snows in Prague

The 16th Century

On Good Friday 1542, the wind blew down part of the timberwork of the church roof. During the unrest in the year 1543 the community abandoned Prague. Subsequently, the Carmelites stayed in Prague only sporadically. The church and the monastery fell further into disrepair. In 1566 the situation reached a new level of misfortune with the collapse of the roof and the vault of the presbytery of the unfinished church. Thereafter, the monastery existed only in titular form, but in fact its life had come to an end. What had been built prior to 1419 was once again in ruins, which in addition served as a rubbish heap and a refuge for the dregs of society of the city. The well-known engraving of Prague published by Sadeler in 1606 shows only three outer walls remaining of the church, without any façade or vault.