Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia

The convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia was founded  by the king Wenceslas I. in 1233, on the incentive of his pious sister St. Agnes who had brought to Bohemia the order of St. Clare and became the convent's first abbess. Although she had always been recognized as one of the key spiritual figures of the Czech history, she was only canonised in 1989.

In the 13th century Prague the convent must have been one of the most splendid, spectacular architectural complexes. After the order of St. Clare had left Bohemia during the Hussite wars in the 15th century, however, the buildings stood long abandoned to be completely abolished by the decree of Joseph II. in the late 18th century. Today, the former convent is the site of the National Gallery and its highy valued permanent exposition of medieval European art.