Sights in Prague
-
A
Museum of Decorative Arts
This museum opened in 1900 as part of a European movement to encourage a return to the aesthetic values sacrificed to the Industrial Revolution. Its four halls are a feast for the eyes, full of 16th- to 19th-century artefacts such as furniture, tapestries, porcelain and a fabulous collection of glasswork.
The neo-Renaissance building is itself a work of art, the facade decorated with reliefs representing the various decorative arts and the Bohemian towns famous for them. The staircase leading up from the entrance hall to the main exhibition on the 2nd floor is beautifully decorated with colourful ceramics, stained-glass windows and frescoes representing graphic arts,…
reviewed
-
B
Loreta
The Loreta is a baroque place of pilgrimage founded by Benigna Kateřina Lobkowicz in 1626, designed as a replica of the supposed Santa Casa (Sacred House; the home of the Virgin Mary) in the Holy Land. Legend says that the original Santa Casa was carried by angels to the Italian town of Loreto as the Turks were advancing on Nazareth.
The duplicate Santa Casa is in the centre of a courtyard complex, surrounded by cloistered arcades, churches and chapels. The interior is adorned with 17th-century frescoes and reliefs depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, and an ornate silver altar with a wooden effigy of Our Lady of Loreto. Above the entrance to the courtyard 27 bells,…
reviewed
-
C
Bethlehem Chapel
The Bethlehem Chapel is one of Prague’s most important churches, being the true birthplace of the Hussite cause. In 1391, Reformist Praguers won permission to build a church where services could be held in Czech instead of Latin, and proceeded to construct the biggest chapel Bohemia had ever seen, able to hold 3000 worshippers.
Jan Hus preached here from 1402 to 1412, marking the emergence of the Reform movement from the sanctuary of the Karolinum (where he was rector). It’s now a national cultural monument. In the 18th century the chapel was torn down. Remnants were discovered around 1920, and from 1948 to 1954 – because Hussitism had official blessing as an ancient…
reviewed
-
D
National Museum
Looming above Wenceslas Square is the neo-Renaissance bulk of the National Museum, designed in the 1880s by Josef Schulz as an architectural symbol of the Czech National Revival. Its magnificent interior is a shrine to the cultural, intellectual and scientific history of the Czech Republic.
reviewed
-
E
Břevnov Monastery
Břevnov Monastery is the Czech Republic’s oldest Benedictine monastery, founded in 993 by Boleslav II and Bishop Vojtěch Slavníkovec (later to be canonised as St Adalbert). The two men, from powerful and opposing families intent on dominating Bohemia, met at Vojtěška spring, each having had a dream that this was the place where they should found a monastery. Its name comes from břevno (beam), after the beam laid across the spring where they met. The present baroque monastery building and the nearby Basilica of St Margaret (Bazilika sv Markéty) were completed in 1720 by Kristof Dientzenhofer. During the communist era the monastery housed a secret-police archive;…
reviewed
-
F
Lobkowicz Palace
This 16th-century palace houses a private museum known as the Princely Collections, which includes priceless paintings, furniture and musical memoribilia. You tour with an audio guide dictated by owner William Lobkowicz and his family – this personal connection really brings the displays to life, and makes the palace one of the castle’s most interesting attractions.
Built in the 16th century, the palace has been home to the aristocratic Lobkowicz family for around 400 years. Confiscated by the Nazis in WWII, and again by the communists in 1948, the palace was finally returned in 2002 to William Lobkowicz, an American property developer and grandson of Maximilian, the…
reviewed
-
G
Museum of the Infant Jesus of Prague
The Church of Our Lady Victorious (kostel Panny Marie Vítězné), built in 1613, has on its central altar a 47cm-tall waxwork figure of the baby Jesus, brought from Spain in 1628. Known as the Infant Jesus of Prague (Pražské Jezulátko). At the back of the church is a museum, displaying a selection of the frocks used to dress the Infant.
The Infant is said to have protected Prague from the plague and from the destruction of the Thirty Years’ War. An 18th-century German prior, ES Stephano, wrote about the miracles, kicking off what eventually became a worldwide cult; today the statue is visited by a steady stream of pilgrims, especially from Italy, Spain and Latin…
reviewed
-
H
Convent of St Agnes
In the northeastern corner of Staré Město is the former Convent of St Agnes, Prague’s oldest surviving Gothic building. The 1st-floor rooms hold the National Gallery’s permanent collection of medieval and early Renaissance art (1200–1550) from Bohemia and Central Europe, a treasure house of glowing Gothic altar paintings and polychrome religious sculptures.
In 1234 the Franciscan Order of the Poor Clares was founded by Přemysl king Wenceslas I, who made his sister Anežka (Agnes) the first abbess of the convent. Agnes was beatified in the 19th century and, with hardly accidental timing, Pope John Paul II canonised her as St Agnes of Bohemia just weeks before the…
reviewed
-
I
Royal Garden
A gate on the northern side of Prague Castle leads to the Powder Bridge (Prašný most; 1540), which spans the Stag Moat and leads to the Royal Garden, which started life as a Renaissance garden built by Ferdinand I in 1534. It is graced by several gorgeous Renaissance structures.
The most beautiful of the garden’s buildings is the Ball-Game House (Míčovna; 1569), a masterpiece of Renaissance sgraffito where the Habsburgs once played a primitive version of badminton. To the east is the Summer Palace (Letohrádek; 1538–60), or Belvedere, the most authentic Italian Renaissance building outside Italy, and to the west the former Riding School (Jízdárna; 1695). All…
reviewed
-
J
Karolinum
Central Europe’s oldest university, founded by Charles IV in 1348, was originally housed in the so-called Rotlev House. With Protestantism and Czech nationalism on the rise, the reforming preacher Jan Hus became Charles University’s rector in 1402 and soon persuaded Wenceslas IV to slash the voting rights of the university’s German students – thousands of them left Bohemia when this was announced. The facilities of the ever-expanding university were concentrated here in 1611, and by the 18th century the old burgher’s house had grown into a sizeable complex known as the Karolinum. After the Battle of Bílá Hora (1620) it was handed over to the Jesuits, who gave it a baroque…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Charles University
Central Europe's oldest university, founded by Charles IV in 1348, was originally housed in the so-called Rotlev House (Železná 9; -00M024B). With Protestantism and Czech nationalism on the rise, the reforming preacher Jan Hus became rector in 1402 and soon persuaded Wenceslas IV to slash the voting rights of the university's German students - thousands of them left Bohemia when this was announced.
The facilities of the ever-expanding university were concentrated here in 1611, and by the 18th century the old burgher's house had grown into a sizable complex, known as the Karolinum. After the Battle of Bílá Hora it was handed over to the Jesuits, who gave it a baroque…
reviewed
-
L
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. Some monks returned after the war, but the reprieve was short-lived: in 1950 the communists closed down the monastery, and tortured the prior to death. It was finally restored to the Benedictine order in 1990, and reconstruction has been going on ever since. The monastery’s Gothic Church of Our Lady (kostel Panny Marie), badly damaged by the 1945…
reviewed
-
M
Lucerna Palace
The most elegant of Nové Město’s many shopping arcades runs through 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 cafes and restaurants.
In the marbled atrium hangs artist David Černý’s sculpture Kun (Horse), a wryly amusing counterpart to the equestrian statue of St Wenceslas in Wenceslas Square. Here St Wenceslas sits astride a horse that is decidedly dead; Černý never comments on the meaning of his works, but it’s safe to assume that this…
reviewed
-
N
Church of St James
The great Gothic mass of the Church of St James began in the 14th century as a Minorite monastery church, and was given a beautiful baroque facelift in the early 18th century. But in the midst of the gilt and stucco is a grisly memento: on the inside of the western wall (look up to the right as you enter) hangs a shrivelled human arm.
Legend claims that when a thief tried to steal the jewels from the statue of the Virgin around the year 1400, the Virgin grabbed his wrist in such an iron grip that his arm had to be lopped off. (The truth may not be far behind: the church was a favourite of the guild of butchers, who may have administered their own justice.)
Pride of place…
reviewed
-
V Holešovičkách
The spot in the suburb of Libeň where Reichsprotektor SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated has changed considerably since 1942 – the tram tracks have gone and a modern road intersection has been built. It’s near where the slip road exits north from V Holešovičkách to Zenklova. A small memorial was finally built here in May 2008, 66 years after the event – because the Czech paratroopers who carried out the assassination were trained in Britain, the communist regime had preferred not to remember them. At the time of research, a competition had just been launched to design a larger monument. To get to the site, take tram 10 or 24 to the Zenklova stop and…
reviewed
-
O
Prague City Museum
This excellent museum, opened in 1898, is devoted to the history of Prague from prehistoric times to the 20th century. Among the many intriguing exhibits are the Astronomical Clock’s original 1866 calendar wheel with Josef Mánes’ beautiful painted panels representing the months – that’s January at the top, toasting his toes by the fire, and August near the bottom, sickle in hand, harvesting the corn.
But what everybody comes to see is Antonín Langweil’s astonishing 1:480 scale model of Prague as it looked between 1826 and 1834. The display is most rewarding after you get to know Prague a bit, as you can spot the changes – look at St Vitus Cathedral, for example,…
reviewed
-
P
Veletržní Palác
The National Gallery's collection of modern art, spread out over four floors, is a strong contender for Prague's best museum, with an unexpectedly rich collection of world masters, including works from Van Gogh, Picasso, Schiele, Klimt and on and on. The holdings of Czech interwar Abstract, Surrealist and Cubist art are worth the trip alone.
reviewed
-
Q
TV Tower
Prague’s tallest landmark – and, depending on your tastes, either its ugliest or its most futuristic feature – is the 216m-tall TV Tower, erected between 1985 and 1992. But more bizarre than its architecture are the 10 giant crawling babies that appear to be exploring the outside of the tower – an installation called Miminka by artist David Černý.
The viewing platforms, reached by high-speed lifts, have comprehensive information boards in English and French explaining what you can see; there’s also a restaurant at 66m up (closed for renovation at the time of research, but due to reopen in summer 2012).
reviewed
-
R
Old-New Synagogue
Completed around 1270, the Old-New Synagogue is Europe’s oldest working synagogue and one of Prague’s earliest Gothic buildings. You step down into it because it predates the raising of Staré Město’s street level in medieval times to guard against floods. Men must cover their heads (a hat or bandanna will do; paper yarmulkes are handed out at the entrance).
Around the central chamber are an entry hall, a winter prayer hall and the room from which women watch the men-only services. The interior, with a pulpit surrounded by a 15th-century wrought-iron grill, looks much as it would have 500 years ago. The 17th-century scriptures on the walls were recovered from…
reviewed
-
S
Meet Factory
David Černý’s ‘Meet Factory’ is a remarkable project that unites artists from around the world to live and create in this cavernous, abandoned factory south of Smíchovské nádraží. The space is used for exhibitions, happenings, film screenings, theatrical performances and concerts. The location is out of the way, so be sure to check the website for the opening hours and program of events before heading out.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
T
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…
reviewed
-
U
Týn Courtyard
This picturesque courtyard tucked behind the Church of Our Lady Before Týn was originally a sort of medieval caravanserai – a fortified hotel, trading centre and customs office for visiting foreign merchants. Established as long ago as the 11th century, it was busiest and most prosperous during the reign of Charles IV. Now attractively renovated, the courtyard houses shops, restaurants and hotels. The courtyard is still often referred to by its German name, Ungelt (meaning ‘customs duty’).
In the northwest corner is the 16th-century Granovsky Palace, with an elegant Renaissance loggia, and sgraffito and painted decoration depicting biblical and mythological scenes.…
reviewed
-
V
Divoká Šárka
The valley of the Šárecký potok (Šárka Creek), in the far western end of the city, is one of Prague’s best-known and most popular nature parks. People come here to sunbathe on the rocks, hike along the creek and even swim in an ice-cold public pool from June through August.
reviewed
-
W
Petřín
Most attractions atop this lookout point were built in the late 19th to early 20th century, creating a slightly innocent, fun-fair atmosphere. The huge stone fortifications that run from Újezd to Strahov, cutting across Petřín's peak, are different. This so-called Hunger Wall was built in 1362 under Charles IV, constructed by the city's poor in return for food under an early job-creation scheme.
Once upon a time the hill was draped with vineyards, and you can still see the quarry that provided stone for most of Prague's Romanesque and Gothic buildings. Just south of the cable car terminus is Stefanik Observatory, where anyone can enjoy an enhanced view of a clear and…
reviewed
-
X
Futura Gallery
The Futura Gallery focuses on all aspects of contemporary art, ranging from painting, photography and sculpture to video, installations and performance art. In the garden, you'll find a rather shocking and amusing permanent installation by David Černý, called Brownnosers.
reviewed