If you wish to be impressed by an astonishing atmosphere of a monumental Gothic temple, visit the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, a spiritual center of the Prague Old Town with rich and eventful history. Originally, a small church was standing at the gate of "Týn", called also Ungelt, the foreign merchants court serving their community.
In the 14th century it was replaced by a magnificent temple, which became a counterpart to the Cathedral of St. Vitus at Prague Castle. In the Hussite times Tyn church was the most important church in town.
After 1620, the country was re-catholicized and the golden chalice of Utraquists adorning the facade was ripped off. The golden chalice was melted down and its gold is now shining around the statue of the Madonna. Both exterior and interior of the church are decorated with unique works of art: passion scenes on the tympanum of the north portal, altar paintings by the renowned Czech Baroque painter Karel Škréta and his contemporaries, pewter Gothic font and a unique Renaissance tomb of the famous Danish astronomer Tycho de Brahe.
Concerts are held in the Tyn church only sporadically, making use of the oldest organ in Prague (built by Johann Heinrich Mundt in 1673). Its unique sound attracts experts from around the world.
