1385 – Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic

The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn (Týnský Chrám) dominates one side of the Old Town Square. The spires of this powerful looking Gothic church (with a Baroque interior) can be seen from all over Prague.

The church was founded in 1385 during a tumultuous period when “˜heretic’ Hussites were being slaughtered by the ruling Roman Catholics. As part of this, Catholic Jesuits took over the church, recasting the bell and replacing the Hussites symbolic chalice with a large figure of Mary nailed between the towers.