Building sights in Czech Republic
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Old Town Hall
Prague’s Old Town Hall, founded in 1338, is a hotchpotch of medieval buildings acquired piecemeal over the centuries, presided over by a tall Gothic tower with a splendid Astronomical Clock. The main entrance is to the left of the clock; beyond that is the House at the Minute (dům U minuty), an arcaded building covered with Renaissance sgraffito – Franz Kafka lived here (1889–96) as a child just before the building was bought by the town council.
As well as housing the Old Town’s main tourist information office, the town hall has several historic attractions, and hosts art exhibitions on the ground floor and the 2nd floor. The guided tour takes you through the co…
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Klementinum
When the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand I invited the Jesuits to Prague in 1556 to boost the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, they selected one of the city’s choicest pieces of real estate and in 1587 set to work on the Church of the Holy Saviour (kostel Nejsvětějšího Spasitele), Prague’s flagship of the Counter-Reformation. The western façade faces Charles Bridge, its sooty stone saints glaring down at the traffic jam of trams and tourists on Křížovnické náměstí. After gradually buying up most of the adjacent neighbourhood, the Jesuits started building their college, the Klementinum, in 1653. By the time of its completion a century later it was the largest bu…
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Capuchin Monastery
From the main train station, Masarykova leads to Kapucínské náměstí. At No 5 is the Church of the Holy Cross (kostel sv Kříže) and the adjoining and gruesomely compelling Capuchin Monastery. The Capuchin monastery's ghoulish attraction is the dry, well-ventilated Capuchin Monastery Crypt with the natural ability to turn dead bodies into mummies. Up to 150 cadavers were deposited here prior to 1784, and the desiccated corpses include 18th-century monks, abbots and local notables, from a nameless 12-year-old ministrant to hard-working chimney sweeper Barnabas Orelli, still wearing his boots.
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Dancing Building
The junction where Resslova meets the river at Rašínovo nábřeží is dominated by the Dancing Building, built in 1996 by architects Vlado Milunić and Frank 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 legendary dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It’s surprising how well it fits in with its ageing neighbours.
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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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Meeting House
On the corner of Husova and Komenského náměstí is the Meeting House, one of the best works of 19th-century Danish architect Theofil Hansen and now home to the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra. The name of the building comes from its role as a social rendezvous point for locals, a tradition still being maintained in the 21st century with the assistance of text messaging.
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Exhibition Grounds
The Exhibition Grounds in the suburb of Pisárky (take tram 1 from the train station) were opened in 1928. They are now a year-round trade fair venue. In addition to the palace of Industry (Průmyslový palác) other interesting buildings include the Congress hall (Kongresová hala) and Bauhaus-style New house (Nový dům).
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Church of the Assumption of the Virgin
Over Špilberk hill from the old town, on the corner of Úvoz and Pekařská, is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, Brno's finest late-Gothic building. Inside is the oldest painting on wood in the Czech Republic, the 13th-century black Madonna (černá Madona).
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Church of the Sacrifice of the Virgin
Along Hroznová, on Piaristické náměstí, is the Church of the Sacrifice of the Virgin and a former Dominican monastery with a splendid pulpit. Enter the church from the Gothic cloister. Next door is a medieval armoury.
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Church of the Holy Cross
From the main train station, Masarykova leads to Kapucínské náměstí. At No 5 is the Church of the Holy Cross and the adjoining and gruesomely compelling Capuchin monastery (Kapucínský klášter).
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Minorite Monastery
On Minoritská (off Orlí) is the church of St John (kostel sv Janů) and the Minorite Monastery founded in 1230. (The Minorites are the only order in Moravia still in their original quarters.)
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Church of Mary Magdalene
The Church of Mary Magdalene is across the river. Whatever your thoughts on the excesses of baroque architecture, it's hard not to fall for this confection by Kilian Ignatz Dientzenhofer.
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Church of St Mary Magdalene
To the east of the main shopping street, Masarykova, is a brace of churches. The Church of St Mary Magdalene on Františkánská stands on the former site of a synagogue.
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Church of St Thomas
The Church of St Thomas, with a soaring nave in the purest Gothic style, abuts a 14th-century Augustinian monastery that today houses a branch of the Moravian gallery.
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Cathedral of St Nicholas
The Cathedral of St Nicholas was built as a church in the 13th century, rebuilt in 1649 and made a cathedral in 1784. It stands beside the Black Tower.
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Church of St Joseph
To the east of the main shopping street, Masarykova, is a brace of churches. On Josefská is the Church of St Joseph, first consecrated in 1674.
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