A model of charity and tolerance that has lasted four centuries
The Italian presence on Czech Republic territory, boasts a long lasting and important tradition. Though the number of Italians present in Prague in the Middle Ages may not have been so high as to speak of a real migration towards the territories of the Czech crown, in the second half of the Sixteenth century, however, in the town of Rudolph II (capital of the Empire since 1583), there was already a large Italian colony, made up construction workers and merchants, who had settled there with their families.
The Italian merchants were primarily involved in luxury- goods trade, which was in high demand at the time of the imperial court, but the largest group of the colony consisted of architects, masons and plasterers, who were employed in the numerous yards of the Royal Palace and residences of the Czech nobility, attracted by the Renaissance style. The Italian settlers in the capital, came mainly from the region between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice, and in Prague, they lived close to the castle and along the Vlašská, the “Italian Street”, while their shops surrounded the current Mala Strana square, known at the time as the: “Italian Square”
Over the years, the Italian colony grew to such an extent as to lead the Jesuits of the Collegio Clementino – who had been present in Prague since 1556 – to hold sermons in Italian since 1560, in the church of St. Clement in the area of the Old Town. It was the Jesuits, in fact, who started organising the Italian community and it was under the impetus of the Society of Jesus, between 1573 and 1575 (sources disagree on this) that the community actually created a stable organization with the creation of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption, an institution with charitable and religious purposes, based on the model of the Marian Congregations of the Jesuit colleges. The purpose of the Congregation was summarized in the motto: “Pro Deo et paupere” and were basically two: to defent the Catholic faith in protestant Bohemia and the creation of charitable works, such as helping the poor and the needy and taking care of the sick, without regard to their religion faith. The first spiritual coadjutor of the new institution was the Italian Father Blasius Montanini.
In Bohemia, the Italian Congregation was one of the Catholic minorities in the region and that is why it obtained special indulgences from Pope Gregory XIII, in 1580.
In 1569 the Italians had already built their own oratory in the Old City close to the Clementinum and a chapel inside the same area, where religious services used to be celebrated. This chapel was later demolished in 1589 because, by this time, it had become too small and was completely rebuilt since 1590. This new chapel was consecrated in August 1600 by Bishop Filippo Spinelli, Papal Nuncio to Rudolf II and still holds a prominent role in the history of architecture, as it appears to be the first example of a transalpine Italian oval chapel. The chapel, surmounted by a dome, was adorned with a magnificent fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, by an unknown Italian artist of the time. Although dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption, people called the chapel “Italian Chapel” and the name has not changed since then.
The creation of the congregation did a lot to strengthen cohesion between the Italian minority in Prague and, thanks to its charitable work, it was also well regarded by local people and reached such a high-standing reputation that, over time, even non-Italian citizens asked to be part of it.
In 1602, due to the increasing number of poor and needy people, who were being hosted in the homes of the members of the Congregation, the latter bought the house of Domenico de Bossi (its illustrious member) for a symbolic fee. The house was located in the Mala Strana district and was turned into a hospital, to assist the needy, especially children, who were thus able to receive both medical and social assistance.
But very soon, even this structure proved to be no longer sufficient and the Congregation asked Emperor Rudolf for permission to buy other houses close to the Hospital. In 1608 the Institution received permission from the Emperor (who appreciated irs charity work) to purchase additional property for the extension of the structure and other important favourable concessions, such as total exemption from all kinds of levies and taxes, together with the possibility, in future, to buy houses and land for further extension work. These privileges were reconfirmed by the emperors Leopold I in 1691, Carlo VI in 1732 and Empress Maria Teresa in 1744. The building of Mala Strana was extended several times and was even rebuilt from scratch in 1611 and completed in 1617. Inside the Hospital there was also a single nave chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Assumption and St. Carlo Borromeo, built in 1617 and consecrated on July 23rd of the same year by the archbishop of Prague Jan Lohelius.
Starting from 1622, a school for Italian children was inaugurated inside the Hospital and the chapel was decorated with rich stucco work. From a simple hospital for the poor, the building – on present day Vlašská Street – has been turned into an orphanage and in 1671 St. Francesco Borgia was chosen as its patron.
The artistic decoration of the Hospital is considered one of the greatest jewels of the early Baroque period in Prague, while the wall paintings placed in the vault of the nave as well as in the small side chapels (of the main Chapel), are among the first works of the Baroque period in Prague.
In the years that followed, the building suffered various forms of damage because of the Thirty Years War, during which even the Congregation archive was lost, but the building was reconstructed and enlarged with additional buildings. To have an idea of how important the Hospital was, it is enough to consider that in 1779, according to various historical sources, the number of patients in the structure had reached the figure of 1,187.
The Hospital of the Italians was suppressed in 1789 by the will of Giuseppe II, but in 1804, the Italians living in Prague, renewed the Congregation – under the protection of His Serene Highness, the Archduke Luigi Salvatore of Tuscany – and founded a boys’ orphanage on 7th September of the same year. The foundation of the orphanage, in charge of maintaining and educating young children, orphans and the needy (without distinction of nationality), was made possible thanks to the support given by Italian merchants resident in Prague. The Statutes of 1804 reaffirmed the religious and humanitarian scope of the Congregation and the Orphanage, among which were: the conservation of the Italian Chapel in the Old City, the preservation of the Orphanage and the institution of a special fund to help the members of the Congregation in case of need. In 1830, the Orphanage was transferred back into the historic Hospital of Mala Strana, which was bought back by the Congregation, and in 1839 its Chapel was once more consecrated. The Orphanage was responsible for the education of male children up to the age of 15 and offered, to the most deserving scholars, the opportunity to continue their studies even after this age. When Italy entered the Second World War in 1915, the Austrian Government took away the administration of the Orphanage from the Italians, but at the end of the war, they were able to regain its control from the new Czechoslovak government. The Orphanage continued its activity with several difficulties and vicissitudes until 1941- during the Second World War – the year in which it was suppressed, and with the June 7th 1942 resolution, the Italian Congregation, sanctioned the take over by the Italian State of the premises of the ex Mala Strana Hospital and the Old Town Chapel of the Virgin Mary. The Congregation, however, never decreed its dissolution even if it had actually ceased all activities. The ancient premises of Mala Strana, which for centuries had been a point of reference for the Italian community of Prague, was from that moment destined to host the “Casa d’Italia” and the Institute of Italian Cultural (renamed “Italian Institute of Culture since the Nineties “), which is still active and which represents the throbbing heart of Italian spirit in the Czech Republic.
By Mauro Ruggiero