Crusader Square

Crusader Square is a small square in the historical center of Prague. The buildings located on it make up a beautiful architectural ensemble, but each of them individually is a pearl of early Baroque.

If you move along the narrow Karlovaya street towards the famous Charles Bridge, you will definitely get to Krzyzhovnitskaya Square, or, as it is also called, the Crusader Square. In the center of the square stands a monument to Charles IV, a wise and far-sighted ruler. In 1348, Charles IV founded the first European university, now known as Charles University. To the right of the monument is the Church of St. Francisca, former monastery of the Crusader Order. The history of the order is interesting because it is the only knightly order based on Czech land.

The eastern part of the square is closed by the building of the Church of St. Salvator, which is part of the Clementinum - the largest Jesuit residence in the Czech Republic. It used to be the most important Jesuit temple in the Czech Republic, and today it is one of the most valuable monuments of the early Baroque era. The exit from the square to the Charles Bridge is decorated with the Old Town Bridge Tower – a beautiful Gothic structure, part of the old city fortifications. Through the arch of this gate passed the “coronation road” – the way that the Czech kings walked on the day of their ascension to the throne. And just behind the bridge tower is the famous Charles Bridge and a beautiful view of the Vltava.