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The original church in the settlement of Sveti Tomaž, dedicated to Saint Thomas, was a Romanesque structure with a square nave and a rounded apse. The remains of this are still visible in the corner of the sanctuary. The surviving sanctuary is mostly Gothic, dating to around 1500.
The church was rebuilt a number of times, most extensively in 1848 when three layers of frescos were revealed, the oldest dating to the early 14th century, the second layer to around 1400, and the top layer to the early 16th century.
The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.