Skeppsholmskyrkan is a church on the islet of Skeppsholmen, secularized in 2002. Named after its location, the church was built 1823-1849 to replace a minor wooden church on Blasieholmen destroyed in the devastating fire of 1822. Inaugurated by King Charles XIV John and still officially carrying his name, it was designed by the architect Fredrik Blom as a neoclassical octahedral temple inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, borrowing the coffered ceiling while substituting the oculus for the temple-shaped lantern light. On all sides, the plain white walls restored in 1998 are pierced by portals whose four pillars support semi-circular lunettes. Inside the cruciform exterior, the interior sheet of the wooden double cupola is supported by paired doric columns and rounded arches. Accompanying the painted altarpiece are niches with statues of the apostles and two plaster groups.
The Skeppsholmen parish was discontinued in 1969 when the Navy moved to Muskö, and the church was secularized in 2002. Since May 2009, the building is called Eric Ericsonhallen, named after the Swedish conductor Eric Ericson and is a Concert Hall managed by the Eric Ericson International Choral Centre.
References: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.