Showing 1-18 of 18 results
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Archbishop's Palace
Opposite the Schwarzenberg Palace is the rococo Archbishop's Palace, bought by Archbishop Antonín Brus of Mohelnice in 1562, and the seat of archbishops ever since. The exterior was given a rococo makeover between 1763 and 1765.
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Franz Kafka's Birthplace
An oft-photographed bust of the great writer marks the building where he was born on 3 July 1883, at what was then U Radnice 5. Now, this spot in the shadow of the Old Town Sq's St Nicholas Church is named after him.
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Jewish Cemetery
Franz Kafka is buried in this cemetery, which opened around 1890 when the previous Jewish cemetery - now at the foot of the TV Tower - was closed. To find Kafka's grave, follow the main avenue east (signposted), turn right at row 21, then left at the wall; it's at the end of the 'block'. Fans make a pilgrimage on 3 June, the anniversary of his death.
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Lucerna Palace
The most elegant of Nové Město's many shopping arcades runs beneath the Art Nouveau Lucerna Palace (1920) between Štěpánská and Vodičkova streets. The complex was designed by Václav Havel (grandfather of the ex-president), and is still partially owned by the family. It includes theatres, a cinema, shops, a rock club and several cafés and restaurants.
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Memorial to the Victims of Communism
This striking sculpture by Olbram Zoubek has male figures in various stages of desiccation descending a concrete staircase. Below them, a metal line down the centre of the steps counts the victims: 327 shot while trying to escape across the border, 170,938 driven into exile, 205,486 arrested, 248 executed and 4500 who died in prison.
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Olšany Cemetery
Huge and atmospheric, Prague's main burial ground was founded in 1680 during a plague epidemic; the oldest stones are in the northwestern corner, near the 17th-century St Roch Chapel (kaple sv Rocha). There are several entrances to the cemetery along Vinohradská, east of Flora metro station, and beside the chapel on Olšanská. Jan Palach, the student who set himself on fire in January 1969 in protest at the Soviet invasion, is buried here.
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Peček Palace
This gloomy neo-Renaissance palace served as the wartime headquarters of the Gestapo. A memorial on the corner of the building honours the many Czechs who were tortured and executed in the basement detention cells. Today, it is home to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
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Plečník Monolith
A noteworthy feature near St Vitus Cathedral is a huge granite monolith dedicated to the victims of WWI, designed by Slovene architect Jože Plečník in 1928. Nearby is a copy of the castle's famous statue of St George slaying the dragon; the original 14th-century bronze statue is now in the Story of Prague Castle exhibition.
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Radio Free Europe Building
During the Cold War, US-financed Radio Free Europe was the most famous voice broadcasting from the capitalist West to the communist East. After 1989 it moved from Munich to Prague, into this former stock exchange and then communist parliament. In late 2008 the radio will be departing for Prague's outskirts, leaving this brutalist, 1970s glass-fronted building to the neighbouring National Museum.
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Schwarzenberg Palace
The Renaissance Schwarzenberg Palace, acquired by the powerful Schwarzenberg family in 1719, sports a striking black-and-white sgraffito façade. It is being re-fitted by the National Gallery, and is due to re-open in November 2007.
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Star Summer Palace
The Letohrádek Hvězda is a Renaissance summer palace in the shape of a six-pointed star built in 1556 for Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol. It sits at the end of a long avenue through the lovely wooded park of Obora Hvězda, a hunting reserve established by Ferdinand I in 1530. The palace houses a small museum about its history, and an exhibit on the battle of White Mountain.
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Sternberg Palace
Tucked behind the Archbishop's Palace is the baroque Sternberg Palace, home to the National Gallery's valuable collection of 14th- to 18th-century European art, including works by Goya and Rembrandt. Fans of medieval altarpieces will be in heaven; there are also several Rubens, some Rembrandt and Breughel, and a large collection of Bohemian miniatures. Pride of the collection is the glowing Feast of the Rosary by Albrecht Dürer, an artist better known for his engravings.
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Troja Chateau
Troja Chateau is a 17th-century baroque palace that now houses the Prague City Gallery's collection of 19th-century Czech art, and modern Czech sculpture (1900-70); the cellars contain an exhibition on the history of wine-making in the Czech lands. There's free admission to the palace grounds, where you can wander in the beautiful French gardens, watched by a gang of baroque stone giants on the balustrade outside the southern door.
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U Kalicha
A few blocks east of Karlovo náměstí is the pub U kalicha. This is where the eponymous antihero was arrested at the beginning of Jaroslav Hašek's comic novel of WWI, The Good Soldier Švejk (which Hašek cranked out in instalments from his own local pub). The pub is milking the connection for all it's worth. It's an essential port of call for Švejk fans, but the rest of us can find cheaper beer and dumplings elsewhere.
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Vyšehrad Cemetery
For Czechs, the Vyšehrad Cemetery is the hill's main attraction. In the late 19th century the parish graveyard was made into a memorial cemetery for famous figures of Czech culture, with a graceful, neo-Renaissance arcade running along the northern and western sides.
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Vyšehrad Citadel
The main entrance to the citadel is through the Tábor Gate (Táborská brána) at the southeastern end. On the other side of the brick ramparts and ditch are the scant remnants of the Gothic Peak Gate (Špička brána) - a fragment of arch that is now part of the information office - all that remains of Charles IV's 14th-century fortifications. Beyond that lies the grand, 17th-century Leopold Gate (Leopoldova brána), the most elegant of the fortress gates.
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Wallenstein Palace
Wallenstein Square (Valdštejnské náměstí), the small square to the northeast of Malostranské náměstí, is dominated by a monumental palace built in 1630 by Albrecht of Wallenstein, generalissimo of the Habsburg armies. The palace displaced 23 houses, a brickworks and three gardens, and was financed by the confiscation of properties from Protestant nobles defeated at the Battle of Bílá Hora (White Mountain) in 1620.
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Zbraslav Chateau
As early as 1268 Přemysl Otakar II built a hunting lodge and a chapel here, later rebuilt as a Cistercian monastery. In 1784 it was converted into a baroque chateau which now houses the National Gallery's permanent collection of Asian art, with copies of well-known Czech sculptures in the gardens.
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Showing 1-18 of 18 results
