Old Royal Palace

Lonely Planet review

The Old Royal Palace, at the courtyard's eastern end, is one of the oldest parts of the castle, dating from 1135. It was originally used only by Czech princesses, but from the 13th to the 16th centuries it was the king's own palace.

At its heart is the Vladislav Hall (Vladislavský sál), famous for its beautiful, late-Gothic vaulted roof (1493-1502) designed by Benedikt Rejt. Though around 500 years old, the flowing, interpenetrating lines of the vaults have an almost Art Nouveau feel, in contrast to the rectilinear form of the Renaissance windows. The vast hall was used for banquets, councils and coronations, and also for indoor jousting tournaments - hence the Riders' Staircase (Jezdecké schody) on the northern side, designed to admit a mounted knight. All the presidents of the republic have been sworn in here.

A door in the hall's southwestern corner leads to the former offices of the Bohemian Chancellery (České kanceláře). On 23 May 1618, in the second room, Protestant nobles rebelling against the Bohemian estates and the Habsburg emperor threw two of his councillors and their secretary out of the window. They survived, as their fall was broken by the dung-filled moat, but this so-called Second Defenestration of Prague sparked off the Thirty Years' War .

At the eastern end of the Vladislav Hall you'll come to a balcony that overlooks All Saints' Chapel (kaple Všech svatých); a door to the right leads you to a terrace with great views across the city. To the right of the Riders' Staircase you'll spot an unusual Renaissance doorway framed by twisted columns that leads to the Diet (Sněmovna), or Assembly Hall, which displays another beautifully vaulted ceiling. To the left, a spiral staircase leads you up to the New Land Rolls Room (Říšská dvorská kancelář), the old repository for land titles, where the walls are covered with the clerks' coats of arms.