Cultural Building sights in Prague
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Municipal House
Prague’s most exuberant and sensual building stands on the site of the Royal Court, seat of Bohemia’s kings from 1383 to 1483 (when Vladislav II moved to Prague Castle), which was demolished at the end of the 19th century. Between 1906 and 1912 the Municipal House was built in its place – a lavish joint effort by around 30 leading artists of the day, creating a cultural centre that was the architectural climax of the Czech National Revival.
Restored in the 1990s after decades of neglect during the communist era, the entire building was a labour of love, every detail of design and decoration carefully considered, every painting and sculpture loaded with symbolism. Th…
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B
National Memorial to the Victims of Post-Heydrich Terror
In 1942 seven Czech paratroopers who were involved in the assassination of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich hid in the crypt of the Church of Sts Cyril & Methodius for three weeks after the killing, until their hiding place was betrayed by the Czech traitor Karel Čurda. The Germans besieged the church, first attempting to smoke the paratroopers out and then flooding the church with fire hoses. Three paratroopers were killed in the ensuing fight; the other four took their own lives rather than surrender to the Germans. The crypt now houses a moving memorial to the men, with an exhibit and video about Nazi persecution of the Czechs. In the crypt itself you can still see t…
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C
Strahov Monastery
In 1140 Vladislav II founded Strahov Monastery (Strahovský klášter) for the Premonstratensian order. The present monastery buildings, completed in the 17th and 18th centuries, functioned until the communist government closed them down and imprisoned most of the monks; they returned in 1990. Inside the main gate is the 1612 Church of St Roch (kostel sv Rocha), which is now an art gallery, and the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady (kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie), built in 1143 and heavily decorated in the 18th century in the baroque style; Mozart is said to have played the organ here. Other attractions here include the Miniature Museum, the Strahov Library and the Strah…
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D
Historical Pharmacy Exhibition
Hradčany’s first pharmacy was opened here in 1749; the building, known as U zlatého lva (At the Golden Lion) retains original 19th-century fittings and houses a collection of pharmaceutical paraphernalia illustrating the history of pharmacy from Renaissance times up to the early 20th century.
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