Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius
This Baroque church is situated at the corner of the streets Na Zderaze and Resslova. Initially, it was consecrated to St Charles Borromeus, and was built together with the adjacent house for emeritus priests in 1730-1739 by the architects Kilián Ignác Dienzenhofer and Pavel Ignác Bayer. After deconsecration in 1783 both of the buildings were used for several different purposes. About 150 years later (1934-35) the church was handed over to the Orthodox Church and consecrated to Sts Cyril and Methodius.
The interior of the Sts Cyril and Methodius church is richly decorated with frescoes made by Karel Schopf. The stucco adornments date back to 1739 and represent the work of Michal Ignác Palliardi.
The last stand of the paratroopers
During the Second World War, the church sheltered seven Czechoslovak paratroopers after the attack on Reinhard Heydrich on 27 May 1942. Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, who carried out the attack, were among the men hidden there with the help of the Orthodox clergy and members of the resistance.
On 18 June 1942, German forces surrounded the church. The men fought in the church and crypt. None of the seven survived the attack.
The crypt is now the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror. The memorial preserves the story of the paratroopers and those who helped them, while bullet marks on the building remain a visible reminder of the fighting. Check the memorial’s current visitor information when planning a visit.