The baroque church, originally devoted to St. Charles Borromeo, was built between 1730 and 1736 according to K.I. Dienzenhofer’s and Pavel Ignác Bayer’s project as a part of a home for elderly priests which was closed down in 1738 and turned into barracks and a storehouse. The interior frescoes by Karel Schöpf depict scenes from the legend of St. Charles, the stuccoes are by Michal Ignác Palliardi. The original onion-shaped roof of the tower was brought down in 1883. In 1866 the buildings were purchased by the Technical College. From 1934 to 1935 the church was adapted for liturgical purposes of the Orthodox Church and on 29th September 1935 it was dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius and became the seat of the Orthodox bishop Gorazd. In the crypt of the church, the parachutists Adolf Opálka, Josef Bublík, Jan Hrubý, Jaroslav Švarc, Josef Valčík, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš hid in June 1942. Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš assassinated the protector of the Reich, R. Heydrich on 27th May 1942. The parachutists hid there till 18th June when their hiding place was betrayed and all of them died there. On the wall of the crypt there is a bronze plaque with their names and the reliefs of their patrons by F. Bělský from 1947.

The Orthodox Church was banned in September 1942 and Bishop Gorazd was executed together with other priests of the Orthodox Church. After the war, the church was repaired in 1945-1947 and the crypt was opened to the public. In 1951 the Orthodox Church gained legal church autonomy and also became a metropolitan church.

The present iconostas was created according to prof. Brandt’s design by the artist Vukovič. A National Memorial to the victims of Heydrichiad was opened in Sts. Cyril and Methodius church on 28th September 1995.

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