Kladno - Chapel of St. Florian

The Chapel of St. Florian on Florian Square and today's T. G. Masaryk Avenue was built on the foundations of the original Chapel of St. Florian and St. Elizabeth from 1630.

The original Chapel of St. Florian and St. Elizabeth was built in 1630 by Florian Jetřich of Žďár. The foundation stone from 1630 with the foundation inscription has been preserved as the only material evidence of the original building; today it is placed under the main altarpiece of St. Florian in the chapel.

The design of the new St. Florian's Chapel was prepared by the architect Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, commissioned by the Abbot of Břevnov and Broumov, Benno Löbl (1688-1751). The foundation stone of the chapel was laid on 25 July 1751 on St. James' Day.

The floor plan of the chapel is based on a central cruciform layout with a concave main façade, which is defined on the sides by the diagonally situated towers. The nave is vaulted by a dome on pendentives and the apses of the cruciform plan are topped by sections in the shape of a partial concha.

The outer façade is divided vertically by a pair of pilasters with crenellated capitals, which bear massive voussoirs with richly moulded eaves cornices. The architectural expression is enhanced by the casulating windows which 'lighten' the tectonics of the façade.

The Florentine Chapel is graduated in significance by the gilded cross of St. Benedict on the yarn roof - a traditional symbol of Benedictine monasteries and churches.

The Břevnov abbot probably intended the chapel to be decorated with frescoes, which is also suggested by the stucco mirrors on the interior vaults. The interior of the chapel was no longer equipped with Baroque furnishings after the building was stopped after 1751.

The painted decoration dates back to the completion of the chapel. It is limited to three canvases, the main large painting of St. Florian with the typical attribute of a bucket of water by Willem Kandler from 1872 and the side apses of St. Procopius and St. Benedict by the same artist.

The Chapel of St. Florian is the property of the Statutory City of Kladno and in the spiritual administration of the Roman Catholic Parish of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Kladno.