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Church Of The Assumption Of The Virgin Mary & Charlemagne
At the southern end of Ke Karlovu is a little church with a big name, founded by Charles IV in 1350 and modelled on Charlemagne's burial chapel in Aachen. In the 16th century it acquired its fabulous ribbed vault, the revolutionary unsupported span of which was attributed by some to witchcraft.
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Church Of The Most Sacred Heart Of Our Lord
This church was built in 1932 and is one of Prague's most original and unusual pieces of 20th-century architecture. It's the work of Jože Plečník, the Slovenian architect who also raised a few eyebrows with his additions to Prague Castle. Inspired by Egyptian temples and early Christian basilicas, the glazed-brick building sports a massive, tombstone-like bell tower pierced by a circular glass clock-window.
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Convent of St Agnes
In the northeastern corner of Staré Město is the former Convent of St Agnes, Prague's oldest surviving Gothic building, now restored and used by the National Gallery. The first-floor rooms hold the National Gallery's permanent collection of medieval art (1200-1550) from Bohemia and Central Europe.
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Convent of St George
The very ordinary-looking building to the left of the basilica was Bohemia's first convent, established in 973 by Boleslav II. Closed and converted to an army barracks in 1782, it now a houses a branch of the National Gallery, with an excellent collection of Renaissance and baroque art.
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Cubist Lamppost
Angular but slightly chunky, made from striated concrete - the world's only cubist lamppost would be worth going out of the way to see. So it's a happy bonus this novelty is just around the corner from Wenceslas Sq.
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Czech Museum of Fine Arts
Housed in three beautifully restored Romanesque and Gothic buildings, this often-overlooked little gallery stages temporary exhibitions of 20th-century and contemporary art, though it's worth the admission fee just for a look at the architecture.
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Dancing Building
The junction where Resslova meets the river at Rašínovo nábřeží is dominated by the famous Dancing Building, built in 1996 by architects Vlado Milunič and the American Frank O Gehry. The curved lines of the narrow-waisted glass tower clutched against its more upright and formal partner led to it being christened the 'Fred & Ginger Building', after the legendary dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's surprising how well it fits in with its ageing neighbours.
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Divoká Šárka
The valley of the Šárecký potok is one of Prague's best-known and most popular nature parks. It's named after the legendary warrior Šárka, who is said to have thrown herself off a cliff here. The most attractive area is nearby, among the rugged cliffs near the Džbán Reservoir. People sunbathe on the rocks, and you can swim in the Džbán Reservoir.
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Dvořák Museum
The most striking building in the drab neighbourhood south of Ječná is the Vila Amerika, a 1720s, French-style summer house designed by (you guessed it) Kilian Dientzenhofer. It's one of the city's finest baroque buildings, and now houses a museum dedicated to the composer Antonín Dvořák. Special concerts of Dvořák's music are staged here.
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Ecotechnical Museum
Prague's former Waste Water Treatment Plant was built between 1895 and 1906 following a design by the English architect WH Lindley. Surprisingly, as the plant was designed to service a city of 500,000 people, it remained in service until 1967, by which time Prague had a population of over a million.
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Emmaus Monastery
Founded for a Slavonic Benedictine order at the request of Charles IV, and originally called Na Slovanech, the Emmaus Monastery dates from 1372. During WWII the monastery was seized by the Gestapo and the monks were sent to Dachau concentration camp, then in February 1945 it was almost destroyed by a stray Allied fire-bomb.
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Estates Theatre
Beside the Karolinum is Prague's oldest theatre and finest neoclassical building, the Estates Theatre, where the premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni was performed on 29 October 1787, with the maestro himself conducting. Opened in 1783 as the Nostitz Theatre (after its founder, Count Anton von Nostitz-Rieneck), it was patronised by upper-class German citizens and thus came to be called the Estates Theatre - the Estates being the traditional nobility.
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Franz Kafka Monument
Jaroslav Róna's unusual sculpture of a mini-Franz sitting piggyback on his own headless body was unveiled in 2003. Commissioned by Prague's Franz Kafka Society, it's beside the Spanish Synagogue.
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Franz Kafka Museum
This much-hyped exhibition on the life and work of Prague's most famous literary son opened here in 2005 after three years in Barcelona and three years in New York. Entitled 'City of K', it explores the intimate relationship between the writer and the city that shaped him through the use of original letters, photographs, quotations, period newspapers and publications, and video and sound installations.
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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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Futura Gallery
The Futura Gallery focuses on all aspects of contemporary art, ranging from painting, photography and sculpture to video, installations and performance art. The gallery spaces, which include two floors of 'white cube' halls, a more intimate brick-vaulted cellar, and a garden with children's play area, host changing exhibitions by both Czech and international artists.
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Golden Lane
Golden Lane is a picturesque, cobbled alley running along the northern wall of the castle. Its tiny, colourful cottages were built in the 16th century for the sharpshooters of the castle guard, but were later used by goldsmiths.
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Goltz-Kinský Palace
Fronting the late-baroque Goltz-Kinský Palace is probably Prague's finest rococo façade, finished in 1765 by the redoubtable Kilian Dientzenhofer (see the boxed text, ). Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, once stayed here; his crush on pacifist Bertha Kinský may have influenced him to establish the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Gothic Cellar
The restored gothic cellars that once lay beneath Charles IV's palace (now gone) house a new exhibition dedicated to the history of Vyšehrad. It is packed with archaeological finds and religious relics associated with life on the fortress from 3800 BC until the present day.
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Hc Slavia Praha
Although Sparta is the leading Czech team, Slavia has been closing on it fast in recent years. It already has one advantage with this 18,000-capacity stadium, built to host the Ice Hockey World Championship in April 2004. Tickets can be booked online at www.saskaarena.com.
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Hc Sparta Praha
The Czechs are meisters of ice-hockey, with the national team long rated among the world's best. Although many Czech stars now ply their trade in the US, Prague teams Sparta and Slavia still display an astounding level of skill given the price of their tickets. Sparta's arena has seen better days and the small crowds rattle around it early in the season, but it's the leading team and things come to life in the February to early March play-offs.
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Historical Pharmacy Exhibition
Hradčany's first pharmacy was opened here in 1749; the building now houses the Historical Pharmacy exhibition, with a small collection of pharmaceutical paraphernalia and original furnishings dating from the 19th century.
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Hotel Crowne Plaza
The silhouette of this huge Stalinist building in northern Dejvice will be familiar to anyone who has visited the Russian capital. Originally called the Hotel International, it was built in the 1950s to a design inspired by the tower of Moscow University, right down to the Soviet-style star on top of the spire (though this one is green, not red).
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House at the Golden Ring
The restored Renaissance House at the Golden Ring, on the corner of Týnská just outside the western entrance to Týn courtyard, is another branch of the Prague City Gallery, with a fine collection of 20th-century Czech art. Note the original painted ceiling beams in some rooms.
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House at the Stone Bell
Next door to the Goltz-Kinský Palace is this elegant medieval building, its 14th-century Gothic dignity rescued in the 1960s from a second-rate baroque renovation (the stucco façade stripped to reveal the original stonework). Inside, two restored Gothic chapels now serve as branches of the Prague City Gallery, with changing exhibits of modern art, and as chamber-concert venues.
