Minorite Cafe

I can almost guarantee that you will stumble upon the Minorite Cafe by accident. You’ll have gone to see the Church of ST James but you’ll find the doors locked and a sign pointing you to the left to the Cloister. This belongs to the Order of Friars Minor Coventuals or “Minorites”. Since 2025 the ST James Church, Friary, Cloisters and the ST Anne Chapel are only accessible via a paid ticket.

Minorites are a Male order and represent one part of the general Franciscan Order. Formed by ST Francis of Assisi in 1209 the order was recognised by the Bohemian King Wenceslas I in 1232 when you first find them associated with a building adjacent to the original ST James.

The Minorite Order is Mendicant i.e. it owns no land or property so they raise money based on their own work and accept donations from benefactors. In 2025 the Minorite Order decided to charge for entry to ST James Church. They now own the access to ST James Church and the associated convent plus, they opened a cafe.

The Minorite Cafe

To get to the cafe from ST James you DO NOT enter the cloisters. Instead, you walk further down the street past the cloisters and the next door on your right is the entry to the cafe which brings you into a corridor. The corridor serves both as a cafe and as a little art gallery. In the summer they open their very peaceful garden to the public. It’s a fairly small offer for a cafe but how many times can you say that you had a drink in the grounds of a 13th Century monastery!!! It was a hot day when I visited so I had the iced dandelion tea (CZK119).