The first Prague Baroque summer villa was built between 1679-1696 by the French architect and painter Jean Baptist Mathey (also sometimes called Matheus Burgundus). His participation on the construction of the summer palace is documented from 1685, up till then Domenico Orsi led the building work. Worth noting is the large oval shaped outdoor...
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The history of the Clementinum in the Old Town in Prague is closely linked to astronomy and mathematics. An observatory in a 52 metre high tower was built by an unknown architect.
From 1750 various astronomical and climatic measurings have been performed here and the Clementinum can therefore boast the oldest uninterrupted meteorological records...
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Kampa is a romantic island separated from the Lesser Quarter of Prague by a branch of the Vltava river called the Čertovka. The water from this canal was originally used by water mills, some of which have been partially preserved. The wooden wheels of a former mill called Huť and the late Renaissance Velkopřevorský (sometimes called...
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A synagogue, later called the Old School, stood in this location as early as the 12th century. It received its present name at the beginning of the 16th century, when a group of Jews fleeing from the Spanish Catholic inquisition came to Prague. They belonged to the so-called Sephardic Jews, whose rituals differ slightly from those of the Ashkenazy...
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The building housing the fomer Ceremonial Hall and mortuary of the Old Jewish Cemetery was built in a pseudo-Romanesque style in 1911-12 to a design by architect J. Gerstl. As part of the Jewish Museum, the Ceremonial Hall of the Prague Burial Society Hevrah Kaddishah (founded in 1564) later became an exhibition venue.
EXHIBITION:
On the...
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Archaeological findings of remnants of foundation stones prove that the oldest building standing in this location was built in the 12th century in the Romanesque style. It must have been one of the oldest, if not the oldest, synagogues in Prague. As an old Hebrew memorial tablet testifies, in 1535 Žalman Hořovský, known as Munka, built a...
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History
The history of the Old Town Hall began in 1338, when King John of Luxembourg granted Prague’s Old Town the right to establish its own administrative centre. The original basis for the town hall became the gothic house of the wealthy merchant Wolflin of Kamen, for whom a stately tower was built in 1364. The Old Town Hall is...
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The Riding School is located in the garden of the early Baroque palace concructed for Albrecht of Waldstein by Italian architects Andrea Spezza and Nicolo Sebregondi. During 2000, the Riding hall underwent extensive reconstruction and now is reopened.
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One of the loveliest streets of Prague is named after the poet and journalist Jan Neruda, who lived in the House at the Two Suns and the House at the Three Black Eagles. This street used to be the main route leading up to the Prague Castle. Most of the houses are built in the high Baroque style and have typical house signs on the front...
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The Wenceslas Square, originally called the Horse Market, used to be the largest market square in the New Town. The square received its present name in 1848.
The main dominant of the square is the National Museum at the top end. A little lower down is a statue of St Wenceslas. It is the work of Josef Václav Myslbek and was built in...
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The Baroque building of the Klaus Synagogue in Prague was built in the 17th century in the place where the Rabbi Löw taught at the turn of the 16th and 17th century. Today the synagogue houses a permanent exhibition on Jewish traditions and customs, which remain a mirror of the Jewish past.
The entrance into the exhibition is lined with...
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The fountain which J. Kranner built with help from mason Karel Svoboda has the shape of a polygonal tank with pillars supporting the figures of sixteen Czech regions. The 17th allegorical figure of Prague stands in front of them, facing the river. Higher up, there are allegorical statues representing the activities making the country flourish...
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History
In an historical context, the Powder Tower is one of Prague’s most important medieval monuments. This is the place where royal coronation processions would commence. It is also the beginning and end of an important route from Kutná Hora, where silver was mined for the royal coffers. The so-called Mountain Tower...
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The panorama of the Prague Castle is one of the most famous views of Prague. The Czech rulers moved their seat to the Prague Castle as early as the 9th century and at this time they built the second oldest Christian church in the country here. Many Czech sovereigns ruled from here and took part in the long development of the Prague Castle complex....
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Today’s Faust’s House in the corner of Charles Square has been connected with many mysterious legends since time immemorial, and therefore attracting all mystery lovers.
The legend of Dr. Faust, a solitary man looking for fulfilment of human life in a magic way, has been known in several versions, all of which say that the doctor in...
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The monumental palace with its 150 metre long façade was founded in 1669 by the Imperial ambassador in Venice, Jan Humprecht Černín of Chudenic.
The building site was chosen at one of the highest point in Prague (275 metres above sea level), 18 metres higher than the floor of the St Vitus Cathedral. Černín was set on...
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History
The Petřín Lookout Tower was directly inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was built by the Czech Tourist Club, which had attended the Exposition Universelle in 1889 in Paris and decided to construct a similar tower in Prague. On 16 March 1891 work began in accordance with plans by the engineers František...
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History
This high-gothic tower from the workshop of the distinguished master builder Petr Parléř is one of the most beautiful examples of gothic architecture in Europe. The foundations of the sandstone tower were laid together with the foundations of the Charles Bridge, and its construction was completed in 1380. It is conceived as a...
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The Golden Lane runs along the northern Prague Castle fortifications. It is a row of tiny houses built into the arches of the fortification wall after 1597 and over the years adapted. According to legends alchemists working at the court of Rudolf II had their laboratories here, but historic research shows that the houses were originally occupied by...
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The Troja Palace is definitely a place where nature and history are beautifully wedded. Near this gem, you can find the St. Clare Vineyard which used to be connected to the Troja Palace by a path and stairs. Today they are separated by a busy road, but still they form a no less harmonic whole.
This protected vineyard reminding us of the faded...
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The Gothic cathedral situated on the second courtyard of the Prague Castle is the largest church in Prague. It was founded by Charles, then the Moravian margrave, together with his father John of Luxemburg in 1344 to celebrate the promotion of the Prague bishopric to an archbishopric. In 1346 Charles became the Czech king Charles IV.
At Charles...
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It was in use until 1967 when a new-built modern Central waste treatment plant (situated on Cisarsky island near the original location of the Old waste water treatment plant) was put into operation. The sewer system and technical parameters of the Old waste water treatment plant were projected by a British civil engineer, Mr. William Heerlein...
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The Hvězda Summer Pavilion situated in the game enclosure of the same name probably needs no introduction. A favourite destination for walks, a paradise for runners in summer and for cross-country skiers in winter, and a place connected with the Battle of White Mountain. However, the Summer Pavilion hides many a secret behind its simple...
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On the south side of Petřín, where the Kinský Garden is situated today, there used to be a vineyard of the Plasy Monastery from the 12th century, with a yard and a small church destroyed by the Hussites in 1429. The place remained desolate and was named Vrabcovna. There were only vegetable gardens in the lower part of the estate....
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Art of the 20th and 21st Centuries
The permanent exhibition of 20th and 21st century art on three floors of Veletržní palác acquaints visitors with the development of Czech and foreign fine art during the course of the last two centuries. The extensive exhibition space in this Functionalist building is home to over 2,300 exhibits...
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After the National Theatre and the National Museum the Rudolfínum is the most important neo-Renaissance building in Prague. It was named in honour of the crown prince Rudolph and was designed by Josef Zítek and Josef Schulz as a concert hall and picture gallery. Its construction cost 2 million guilders and was opened to the public in...
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The Bethlehem Chapel, a national cultural monument, stands on the Bethlehem Square in the Old Town in Prague. The present building is a reconstruction of the original chapel founded in 1391 by Jan of Mühlheim as a place where sermons in the Czech language could be heard. The original simple Gothic building, in which special emphasis was given...
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The first Baroque palace in Prague was built as an aristocratic home in 1623-1630 by the Imperial General Albrecht Václav Eusebius Waldstein.
The Waldstein Palace, originally supposed to outdo even the Prague Castle with its size and interiors, was built in place of 26 houses in the Lesser Quarter. Its style is a mixture of late...
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European Art from the Classical Era to the Close of the Baroque
The first part encompasses the works of art from the ancient Greece and Rome. The first floor exhibition halls further house the famous works of 14th - 16th century art that come from the Konopište Castle collection of Archduke Franz Ferdinand d´Este. It contains the...
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The Charles Bridge across the Vltava river which joins together the Old Town with the Lesser Quarter is considered to be the most famous Prague monument. It was founded on July 9th 1357 and built during the reign of Charles IV in place of the Judith Bridge which had been destroyed during a flood in 1342.
The Charles Bridge measures 520 metres...
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Situated on the southern side of the Prague Castle, this palace - originally a princely one, from the 13th century a royal one - was the seat of the head of state until the end of the 16th century when the Habsburgs moved to the western part of the Castle. The rooms of the Old Royal Palace then served mostly as offices, sometimes as storage...
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The Church of St Nicholas in the Lesser Quarter in Prague is the highlight of Jesuit architecture from the Baroque period. It was built in the location of an older Gothic church and its construction took nearly 60 years. The church was designed by the best Baroque architects of Prague – Kryštof Dientzenhofer and later on his son...
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The first location in Prague to become a protected natural monument as early as 1964 was the area of Divoká Šárka. This romantic rocky valley is located on the outskirts of Prague near the airport and is relatively well-known, but still it astonishes every new visitor with its unexpected natural scenery in the territory of the...
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The first Jesuit College in Prague was built in 1653-1723 in place of 32 houses,
3 churches, 7 farmsteads and several gardens. It is the second largest complex of buildings in Prague after the Prague Castle.
The oldest part of the Clementinum is the western wing in Křížovnická Street, built around the middle of the 17th...
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Prague Botanic Garden
The Garden invites its visitors to see and enjoy open air exhibitions, arranged as an impressive park, historical Vineyard of St. Claire, Japanese Garden, tropical greenhouse Fata Morgana together with numerous festive and educational events, targeting visitors of all walks of life. Also of importance, the natural surrounding...
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This imposing building in Prague with a façade of more than 100 metres in length is located on the Wenceslas Square in the New Town. It was built in 1885-1890 according to plans by architect Josef Schulz in an area where the so-called Horse Gate used to stand.
The Museum as an institution was founded in 1818 by the Society of the Patriotic...
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MUSEUM OF THE CZECH CUBISM
The museum is situated in the centre of Prague, in an outstanding piece of Cubist architecture by Josef Gočár, the Black Madonna House, at the point where Celetná St. meets Ovocný trh. The house dating from 1911-12, designed for František Josef Herbst as a department store with a café...
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History
The labyrinth on Petřín Hill was built as the Czech Tourist Club’s pavilion at the Prague Jubilee Exhibition in 1891. It originally stood near the corner of the Industrial Palace at Prague’s Výstaviště exhibition grounds, but two years later it was relocated to Petřín Hill. A mirror labyrinth...
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The Old-New Synagogue in Prague is the oldest synagogue in Europe. It was built around the year 1270 in early Gothic style and belongs amongst the oldest preserved Gothic monuments in Prague. The origin of the name “Old-New” is unclear and there are several explanations. According to one version a new synagogue was built on old...
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The Carolinum is the seat of the Prague University which was founded on April 7th 1348 by Charles IV and therefore bears his name.
The core of the Carolinum is formed by the Gothic Rotlev house from the 3rd quarter of the 14th century, which king Wenceslas IV acquired and donated to Charles’ college. The building has great historical...
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The Petřín funicular was put into operation on July 25th 1891 on the occasion of the Jubilee Exhibition.
It measured 396,5 metres, was operated by hydraulic drive and used to be the longest funicular in Austro-Hungary.
The funicular was modernised in 1932. It was extended to 510 metres and the hydraulic drive was exchanged for electric...
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Baroque in Bohemia - Permanent Exhibition of the Collection of Old Masters of the National Gallery in Prague
On the three floors of the reconstructed building of the palace, the new permanent exhibition presents about 160 sculptural exhibits and 280 pieces of late Renaissance and Baroque painting, created in the territory of the lands of the Crown...
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History
Essentially, the tower at the western end of the bridge comprises two towers of different appearance, origin and size. The smaller of the towers was erected in the Romanesque style. It was part of the Judith Bridge (which was Prague’s first stone bridge built in the first half of the 12th century) but it is actually older. The...
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Art of the Ancient World
Permanent exhibition of the Art of Asia and the Ancient Mediterranean Region
Open to the public from December 17, 2010
The National Gallery in Prague presents a new permanent exhibition in the Kinský Palace prepared in cooperation with the National Museum. The large collection of artworks from the National...
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Today it is the oldest unharmed Jewish cemetery as it survived the Nazi occupation unscathed. The cemetery was founded in the first half of the 15th century. The oldest tombstone, bearing the date of April 25th 1439, is that of Avigdor Kara, a scholar and poet who survived the pogrom of 1389 and wrote an elegy in memory of its victims.
The charm...
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According to old legends Vyšehrad used to be the first seat of the Czech kings who ruled over a country of western Slavs. One of the first rulers was princess Libuše who chose as her husband a ploughman called Přemysl. This man of simple stock became the founder of the first Czech royal dynasty – the Přemyslids – who...
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The Loreta in Prague was built between 1620-1750. The main façade is Baroque and was designed by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer in 1721.
The main dominant of the Loreta is an older, early Baroque tower, which apart from a clock contains a carillon. The Amsterdam bell maker Claudius Fromm made 27 bells with a range of 2,5...
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After his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138, the Bishop Henry Zdik of Olomouc had the idea of establishing a monastery of Canons Regular in Prague with assistance from the Bishops of Prague and the Czech rulers Soběslav II. and Vladislav II. This was the beginning of the Premonstratensian abbey, which left a permanent trace in the Czech...
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The stone Šítka tower was built in 1588–91 after a fire which destroyed the original wooden tower. After attacks from the Swedish it was then being repaired until 1651, and distributed water to New Town fountains for 200 years.
Šítka watermills (named after the temporary owner Jan Šítka in the 1st...
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The astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square is one of Prague’s greatest attractions. According to legends, it was constructed by Master Hanuš. He was blinded by order of the town council so that he could not create such a masterpiece elsewhere. The story says an apprentice accompanied Master Hanuš, who was...
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The snow-white “water palace” decorating the riverbank in Podolí belongs to the most interesting works by architect and later also rector of Czech Technical University, Antonín Engel. The new modern Podolí waterworks, built in 1927 to 1929, belonged to our biggest reinforced concrete buildings, and we think that we...
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The National Theatre in Prague is a symbol of Czech national revival. In 1852 a building site on the corner of the Vltava embankment and Národní Street (formerly Ferdinandova) was acquired from the proceeds of a collection. In 1862 the back area of this plot was used for the construction of the so-called Prozatimní divadlo...
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Part of the Lesser Quarter fortifications in Prague, built during the years 1360-1362 by Emperor Charles IV, is called the Hunger Wall.
This 4-4,5 metres high and 1,8 metres wide argillite wall, which used to have 8 towers, originally connected Újezd with Strahov and Pohořelec.
The name of the wall is supposed to reminds us of the famine...
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Today the Vladislav Hall is considered to be one of the most important places of the Prague Castle as it is the location of significant state events. But for over five hundred years it served mostly as a feasting hall for the Czech kings.
The Vladislav Hall was designed in the late Gothic style by Benedikt Ried from Pístov. It was...
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The Petřín park is one of the largest parks in Prague. It was founded in an area that used to be a wood reaching as far as the Bílá Hora. Vineyards were planted here as early as the 12th century.The park was created by the joining up of the Na Nebozízku, Seminářská and Kinská gardens. The gardens...
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History
The St Agnes Convent was founded by the Premyslid Princess Anežka (Agnes), sister of King Václav I in 1231 as the first convent of the Order of Poor Clares north of the Alps. It was the first Gothic building in Prague. The grounds originally had a larger Poor Clare convent and less significant monastery of Friars Minor, that was...
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The Municipal House in Prague was built in the place where the King’s Court - a royal palace inhabited from the time of Wenceslas IV up until Vladislav Jagellon’s reign - stood from the end of the 14th century. A plaque on the Municipal House reminds us of the fact that it was here that Jiří of Poděbrady, first as the...
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In the densely built-up area of the Old Town, at the corner of Konviktská and Karoliny Světlé streets, there is probably the oldest Prague Romanesque rotunda – Rotunda of Finding of the Holy Cross – Church of the Holy Cross.
In the 17th century, the rotunda belonged to the Dominican order of St. Giles. The chapel was...
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The Daliborka Tower stands in the close vicinity of the Golden Lane at the Prague Castle. It was named after a knight called Dalibor z Kozojed, who was imprisoned in the tower up until 1498. According to legends he learned to play a violin here and saved his life in this manner. His fate inspired Bedřich Smetana to write the opera Dalibor.
The...
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The Maisel Synagogue is one of the several preserved synagogues of the Prague Jewish Quarter. The original building from the years 1590-1592 had three naves divided by twenty pillars. Side naves for women were later built onto the main nave accessible only to men. Between the years 1893-1905 the synagogue was reconstructed by the architect...
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The tradition of writing on the walls in the Lesser Town probably first originated on the garden wall of the house belonging to the actor Jan Werich who lived at Kampa and people wrote various messages on the wall of his garden, but also examples of their own works. The flaking walls at Kampa have also become a place for art happenings of several...
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Everyone passing through the Jiřího z Poděbrad Square will surely notice the modern, unusual church right in the centre of the square. I myself had always just turned my eyes towards this curious, bold building, until one day I entered it to take a better look at the Church of the Sacred Heart. I was enchanted. While on the outside, the...
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May
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