Exhibition 9 Centuries of Old Prague History - HIC SUNT Domini CANES
The Monastery of the Dominican Order at St. Giles Church in the centre of Prague opened its gates to the general public in September 2010 by launching the exhibition with the title "HIC SUNT Domini CANES". The exhibition invites you to visit and see the Monastery where you can find a unique exposition mapping the history, personalities, as well as events connected with this site. An indispensable part of the exposition is formed also by a presentation of the life of Dominical friars. The exhibition is accompanied by a rich programme for children and other cultural programmes for visitors coming to the centre of Prague.
 
The aim of the exhibition held in the centre of Prague is to open the Monastery to the general public and to enliven it as a place of cultural events and as a centre of education.
The main exposition includes an overview of almost 900 years of the history of Old Prague, arranged in terms of topics with a focus on activities of St. Giles Chapter, history as well as the present times of the Order of Preachers and in the third area it provides mapping of the art and education of the time periods concerned.
 
The main exposition makes use of the contrast of a modern architectonic design of the actual exhibition and historical exhibits borrowed from collections of the Dominican Monastery in Prague and of the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

A part of the exposition is formed also by presentation of publishing activities of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and of the photograph exhibition presenting their current life through the camera of photographer Jan Diviš. Among special exhibits of this part of the exhibition it is also possible to highlight the edition of the Czech translation of the Jerusalem Bible which was issued through the Krystal Publishing House by the Order of Preachers in 2009.

The title of the exhibition, HIT SUNT Domini CANES, arose as a play on words, by connection of the historical marking of an unknown place (hic sunt leones = here are lions) and at the same time it refers to the Monastery of Dominican friars (Domini canes = the hounds of the Lord) at St. Giles Church. This Monastery is still perceived by many people as an unknown and mysterious place hidden right in the Old Prague centre.

A core point of the exhibition is also a programme for children focused on the acquiring of knowledge from the field of history, art as well as education. In a form of games children will make themselves familiar not only with the actual environment of the Monastery at St. Giles Church, but also its closest surroundings, i.e. a part the Old Town of Prague.
 
The programme for children is designed in such a manner that it can suit educational needs of pupils of elementary schools of both the first and the second levels. 

 

A part of the exhibition held in the Dominican Monastery at St. Giles Church in Prague is also formed by the rich accompanying programme. It offers commented visits to the Monastery for domestic as well as foreign visitors and also a set of lectures relating to the main topics of the exhibition. The lecturers are leading Czech personalities dealing with history and art. The topics of the lectures are updated on an ongoing basis, and their programme can be found here.
 
To ensure your participation at an accompanying programme it is convenient to book your places in advance here.
 
The exhibition is held under the auspices of His Excellence Mons. Dominik Duka OP, Archbishop of Prague and Primate of Bohemia, Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation "VIZE 97" and Mayor of the City District of Prague 1, Ing. Filip Dvořák. 
 
More detailed information about the exhibition can be found on http://www.vystava-dominikani.cz/exhibition-prague-dominicans/