St Maurice's Church construction started in November 1895 within the framework of the construction of the Neustadt district. The church was designed by architect Ludwig Becker from Mainz, whose preliminary draft was selected during an architectural competition in 1893. After several years of construction works, the church was consecrated on 28 May 1899. It was originally the church of the Catholic garrison of the city.
The Gothic Revival church was meant to be visible from far away, like the Protestant Church of St. Paul. The tall and thin bell tower of St Maurice is 65 meters high and was placed in the several-kilometer-long perspective of Avenue des Vosges and Avenue de la Forêt-Noire which connect Place de Haguenau to Place Arnold.
A 1897 cast of Paul Dubois's statue of Joan of Arc is located to the east of St Maurice's Church. The statue used to stand at the entrance of the church but was moved after Place Arnold was renovated.
The main altar shows the life of St. Maurice, while the upper crucifix is surrounded by representations of St. Mary and St. John. In the southern chapel, an altarpiece depicts the Virgin Mary. All the windows of the church are filled with stained glass.
References:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.