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The Bethlehem Chapel
Did you know this tiny chapel is where a priest got in SO much trouble that they actually burned him alive? Whoa! Look at those super simple stone walls - they're over 600 years old, that's like... your whole life times SIXTY! Before this chapel was built in 1391, there was just a muddy marketplace here where people sold stinky fish and cheese. See that plain doorway? Jan Hus walked through it to preach in Czech instead of Latin - that was totally ILLEGAL back then! He preached here for ten whole years until the Pope said "STOP IT!" Can you count the windows? There are exactly three on each side because the builders ran out of money for more! Inside, the ceiling is so low that really tall knights had to duck their helmets... and this was the FIRST church in all of Europe where regular people could understand what the priest was saying! Pretty cool rebellion, right?
Did You Know?
- Jan Hus, the famous Czech religious reformer, preached at the Bethlehem Chapel from 1402 to 1413, attracting crowds that included both nobility and commoners—even Queen Zofie attended his sermons. His teachings here helped spark the Hussite movement, a major chapter in Czech history that led to religious wars and lasting changes in the country’s religious and social life.
- Unlike most churches of its time, the Bethlehem Chapel was built specifically for sermons in the Czech language, not Latin, making it accessible to ordinary people and symbolizing a break from the Catholic Church’s traditions. Its founders even stipulated this in the original 1391 charter, and the chapel’s plain, unadorned design was a deliberate contrast to the ornate Catholic churches, emphasizing simplicity and direct communication with the congregation.
- The chapel you see today is a carefully reconstructed replica from the 1950s, since the original was demolished in 1786. Remarkably, the rebuild used surviving parts of the original walls and was based on old illustrations, blending authentic medieval fragments with modern craftsmanship. Inside, the walls are decorated with biblical-themed paintings created by art school students, adding a unique, living artistic touch to this historic site.