Dům svaté Alžběty s kaplí House

The chapel of Saint Elizabeth in Water Street in Uherské Hradiště represents the oldest preserved church building in the city. This Gothic monument from the beginning of the 15th century was built near the city hospital in close proximity to the walls. Today the building serves as a pharmacy and is registered as a real-estate cultural monument. It represents a unique example of the adaptation of sacral space for modern medical purposes.

The chapel was part of the city hospital. The oldest history of the building was left few messages, but it can be assumed that the original construction was wooden and easily flammable. A five-leaf rose is carved on the vault of the presbytery, a sign of probable founders, masters of Moravan. It is supplemented by the name Kusna, referring to a townsman who was involved in the construction.

It is an architectural Gothic building with a polygonal presbytery that has undergone many modifications. In the interior, the presbytery separates the portal with a broken arch from the entrance room; the space is covered by a cross arch with stone ribs. The entrance room is finished with a mirror vault and decorated with stucco, which interprets the Roman arcade with Doric Pilasters. The northwest facade to the Water Street bears the signs of eclectic historism, obtained after modifications in 1849. The middle part is lined by pilasters with elements of the Ionian Order and over the portal is an ellipse window. The southeast facade, visible from the atrium, reveals the original Gothic presbytery with a support system. The construction is tilting south, which is likely causing the city's soft subsoil.

The history of the building was closely linked to the fate of the city. In 1582 the hospital was almost abandoned, but already in 1610 the chapel was repaired for religious purposes. The city fire in 1643 requested an early Baroque reconstruction, which is evidenced by 1656 on the portal in the side entrance. Another static damage appears to have caused the explosion of the nearby dusty Red Tower in 1695. This led to the tearing down of the old hospital and the construction of a new Baroque building. After the fire in 1849, they added side tracks to the chapel and united the entrance facade. Between 1856 and 1923, the hospital served as a public hospital.

In the 20th century, the chapel changed its purpose. Between 1904 and 1918, they used it as a butcher's shop and a sausage shop, shortly after 1910 as a table shop. In 1965, the chapel was definitively abolished and its premises began to serve as a warehouse of the Object cooperative. After the decaying period in the 1980s, the whole complex underwent a major reconstruction in the 1990s. Since October 1998, Lucie pharmacy has been operating in the premises of the former chapel, while the rest of the premises serve as a medical facility with offices.

Dům svaté Alžběty s kaplí is a valuable witness to the transformation of urban buildings and the ability of historical objects to adapt to modern times. Visiting this place offers the possibility of viewing the history of Uherský Hradiště through preserved Gothic elements in contrast to later modifications. The building is freely accessible within the operating hours of the pharmacy.