Ten centuries of European architectural heritage
The township of Smíchov, on the left bank of the Vltava, was a centre of Christian worship from the earliest times. The first Carthusian monastery in Bohemia stood close to here, from its foundation in 1342 until its...
On 3 September 1890, a powerful flood washed away three arches of Charles Bridge. Two eighteenth-century statues by Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff toppled into the river and were smashed to pieces. Enough was salvaged to be able to re-create...
The commercial and residential building U Dörflerů was built in 1905 by the firm of Matěj Blecha. Occupying a prime location near the lower end of Wenceslas Square, its decorative facade is the perfect example of art nouveau...
The name František Sander is principally connected with the architecture of navigable waterways, particularly the Elbe and the Vltava, in the early part of the 20th century. He was responsible for the impressive Vltava embankment of 1904 running...
Postal services in Bohemia started in 1526, when mounted couriers made the first deliveries between Prague and Vienna, the twin seats of the Habsburgs. But it was not until the reign of Maria Theresa in the 18th century...
The baroque statues for which Charles Bridge is rightly famous are not arranged according to any predetermined plan. They were erected individually over many decades, part of the programme of recatholicization after the Thirty Years’ War. The choice...
Visitors to Prague are always surprised to learn that the avenue of saints keeping watch over Charles Bridge was never planned as a single architectural scheme. In fact the statues were created by no fewer than fifteen sculptors...
Tucked away behind an unassuming gateway on Karmelitská street in Malá Strana is one of the hidden gems of Prague: the baroque garden constructed for Jan Josef Count of Vrtba, considered to be among the finest of its...
Saint Ivo Helory was a thirteenth-century parish priest from Brittany who was canonized in 1347. He trained as a lawyer and rapidly made his name as an advocate for orphans, widows and the poor. Two of his cases...
This renaissance house with its baroque exterior is typical of the residences in this part of the city’s Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter). Many of them carry baroque era cartouches with symbols of animals, birds or religious emblems. These...
The Adam pharmacy at the lower end of Wenceslas Square was built between 1911 and 1913 by the firm of Matěj Blecha according to a design by Emil Králíček. The same team was also responsible for the nearby...
