St. Nicholas Church at Old Town Square was founded in 1704 to practice the pre-Protestant teachings of Jan Hus, the early 15th century reformer of the Catholic church. The 161 foot Baroque structure was finished in 1737. Shortly after Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918 and the Republic of Czechoslovakia became a sovereign state, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church was formed. The Church of Saint Nicholas is the parish church of its Prague diocese.