Výsledky probíhajících projektů a nedávných archeologických výzkumů vyvolaly nutnost aktualizovat dosud publikované poznatky o raně středověkém vývoji dnešní Malé Strany, území, kde se v raném středověku pod hradem přemyslovských knížat rozkládalo opevněné suburbium. Cílem příspěvku není vyčerpávající syntéza, ale stručná rekapitulace nynějšího stavu znalostí dějinných počátků této části historického jádra Prahy. Doplňuje ji bilance pramenné základny, přehled bádání a nástin používané metodiky terénní exkavace. and Participation in ongoing projects necessitated an update of information published to date on the Early Medieval development of Malá Strana [Lesser Town], an area below the Prague Castle of Přemyslid rulers where a fortified suburbium was located. The goal of this paper is to present a concise review of the latest knowledge regarding the historical beginnings of this micro-region of the historical centre of Prague. The review is supplemented by the source base, a summary of research and applied methodology for terrain excavations.
The main aim of this article is to present a new interpretation of the decoration of the lateral facade of the Augustinian Church of St Thomas in the Lesser Town of Prague, which was created during the reconstruction of the church by its architect Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer in the first third of the 18th century. Drawing on recently discovered sources, it provides a new interpretation of the emblematic decoration of the portal of the lateral facade, both in the context of the painted decoration of the church interior and in relation to the social and theological conditions of the time. In particular, it proposes an interpretation of the four metopes in the entablature of the Doric order, for which the author or commissioner of the Baroque rebuilding of the church probably found inspiration in the emblematic album Devises et Emblèmes Anciennes & Modernes by the late 17th-century French writer and emblematist Daniel de La Feuille, on the basis of which the symbolism of these four metopes can be interpreted. The meaning of these four metopes is then related in the context of the entire decoration of the lateral facade of the temple also within the symbolism of the columnar orders, in this particular case the use of the Doric order. As it appears, the entire decoration of the lateral facade was systematically and purposefully chosen by the architect and contains extraordinary Christological symbolism that may be hidden to the modern observer at first glance.