Emmaus Monastery

If the two twin spires rising in front of this Gothic structure seem strange, recall that they were added in the 1960s after a British and American firebomb destroyed a section of the building in 1945. The monastery dates back to 1372, when Charles IV requested a Slavonic Benedictine order in Prague, centuries of peace followed. During WWII the Gestapo captured the monastery and sent the monks to the Dachau concentration camp. After the war a small number of monks returned to the monastery only to have their home shut down in 1950 by the Communists, who also tortured the prior to death. The monastery was restored to the Benedictine order after years of violence in 1990 after the fall of Communism.  The Gothic Church of Our Lady was renovated and reopened in 2003, after being badly damaged in 1945 (the twin spires already added). The pretty Gothic cloisters feature original faded frescoes with bits of Pagan symbolism from the 14th century.

Vyšehradská 49, Praha 2.