an illustrated guide to Czech architecture and heritage
These impressive formal gardens form part of the palace complex designed for Count Albrecht of Wallenstein by the architectural triumvirate of Giovanni Pieroni, Andrea Spezza and Nicolo Sebregondi. Covering four-and-a-half acres — nearly two hectares — the gardens...
The church of St James the Greater (sv. Jakub Větší) was founded in 1232 in Prague’s Old Town, possibly as a shrine to hold a relic of St James acquired by the Přemyslid king Otakar I. By 1244...
Until February 1912, this corner building in Prague’s New Town was due to be reconstructed in a traditional historicist manner, more sympathetic to the baroque style of the Church of the Holy Trinity next door. However, some time...
This two-storey townhouse ‘U Červeného pole’ (‘The Red Field’) is an ancient survivor in a street otherwise dominated by much taller buildings from the 1900s, such as the nearby ‘U Myšáka’. The earliest records show that until 1397...
Of the many celebrated Czech architects of the first decade of the twentieth century, perhaps the most prolific was the Austrian-born Osvald Polívka. Best known for civic projects such as Prague’s new City Hall (1911) and Municipal House...
This early baroque palace in the Malá Strana district was built between 1662 and 1675 for Jan Hartvik, count of Nostitz (‘Nostic’ in Czech orthography). For many years attributed to Francesco Caratti, later analysis suggests that the palace...
Born in 1818, František Ladislav Rieger was from his student days a passionate advocate of Czech nationalism. His 1848 speech in Vienna won him the admiration of František Palacký, who was to become not only a firm friend...
Although agricultural trading had taken place in Prague since time immemorial, it was only in 1882 that plans were drawn up for a central exchange for arable commodities. In 1894 this first purpose-built corn exchange (plodinová burza) was...
The vicinity of the Czech National Bank has been a trading quarter ever since the Middle Ages, when precious metals regularly arrived at the city’s east gate from the silver mines of Kutná Hora. Nearby is the Týn...
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Czech politics was dominated by one question: how to gain greater autonomy from the Austrian empire (or indeed how to break with Austria entirely). The argument was supported by a...
Radio broadcasts in Czechoslovakia began on 18 May 1923, making the fledgling state only the second country in Europe after Britain to enjoy such a regular service. For the first two years, programmes were broadcast from a scout-tent...
Few capitals can rival the magnificence or continuity of Prague’s architectural heritage. This website presents the history of the city – and of the wider Czech Republic – through the work of an impressive array of architects from mediaeval times to the present.
Whether you’re a first time visitor or are already familiar with these buildings, we hope that your experience with The Prague Vitruvius will inspire you to come back to explore them again, whether online or in real life.
