Museum of the City of Prague

Lonely Planet review

To see how Prague looked before its walled Jewish ghetto was pulled down and St Vitus Cathedral was complete, pop along to see this museum's utterly charming model of the early-19th-century city. The model was an 11-year labour of love for its creator Antonín Langweil. Other displays cover Prague from prehistoric times to the 20th century.

There are also numerous exhibitions. The first gallery, and the only one without English labelling, displays archaeological finds including stone tools and pottery. You can pick up a free guide in foreign languages at the cash desk. Next comes the medieval exhibition, where highlights include Hussite flails and clubs and a 14th-century wooden Pietà. Renaissance guild signs, ecclesiastical chalices, porcelain and more weapons grace the upper floor. Don't miss the 18th-century painted panel that tells, in strip-cartoon form, the tragic and gruesome tale of Simon Abeles, a Jewish boy apparently murdered by his father and uncle in 1694 for converting to Christianity. Simon was buried with pomp at the Church of Our Lady Before Týn, while his father hanged himself and his uncle was publicly tortured to death. This pretty panel once hung in a church.