Bethlehem Chapel

The chapel on Bethlehem Square in Prague's Old Town is dedicated to the memory of the Bethlehem infants murdered at the order of King Herod after the birth of Jesus.

The chapel was founded in 1391 for sermons in the Czech language, and from 1402 to 1413, it was the preaching place of Master Jan Hus (the most important Czech theologian of the 15th century, whose ideas foreshadowed the religious Reformation that came a hundred years later, led by Martin Luther).

It was largely demolished in 1786, but in the 1950s a replica of the original form was built using the surviving fragments of masonry. On the façade, there are eight panels which, in sunny weather, display the inscription “Za pravdu” ("For Truth" in czech) – a key principle of Jan Hus’s ideology and a reminder of his martyrdom.

Today, the chapel serves as the ceremonial hall of the Czech Technical University. In the adjacent Preachers' House, where Jan Hus lived, there is a permanent exhibition about the history of the chapel and the life of this religious reformer.

The underground part of the chapel, known as the lapidarium, is used for exhibitions.