Convent of Saint Agnes
The earliest gothic building in Prague, the Convent of Saint Agnes was constructed in 1231 on a riverside plot later known as ‘Na Františku’ (St Francis’s). The site had been donated by King Wenceslas I...
Category: gothic
The gothic period (12th to 16th centuries), with its trademark pointed arches and decorative turrets, is well represented in the Czech Republic. The work of mediaeval masons can still be seen in the countless surviving churches and monasteries, defensive towers, bridges, castles and even townhouses.
Můstek (Little Bridge)
Embedded in a wall of the vestibule of Můstek metro at the northern end of Wenceslas Square is the little bridge (‘můstek’) that gives the underground station its name. The marlstone bridge, constructed in the...
Novoměstská radnice: New Town Hall
The founding of the so-called ‘New Town’ in 1348 made Prague the third largest city by area in the whole of Europe after Rome and Constantinople. According to the census of thirty years later, the...
Church of Saint Stephen, Štěpánská
The 14th-century church of Saint Stephen was one of two ecclesiastical foundations built specifically to serve the parish of Charles IV’s New Town. Construction took place between 1351 and 1392, close to the existing rotunda...
Okoř Castle
The ruins of this mid-fourteenth-century castle lie about seven miles northwest of Prague. The name Okoř is thought to be related to the word ‘kořen’, or ‘root’, and is the subject of a colourful tale...
Chodov Fortress (Chodovská tvrz)
Deep in the southern suburbs of Prague – an area now dominated by highways and housing estates – this thirteenth-century gothic fortress is an unexpected witness to a much older history, dating from the time...
Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj)
The exact authorship of the mediaeval clock (‘orloj’) in Prague’s Old Town Square is confused, but it seems to have been the result of a collaboration between Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, an astronomer...
Královská obora 56: Governor’s Summer Palace
On a high ridge overlooking Prague’s Stromovka park stands the impressive Místodržitelský letohrádek (Governor’s Summer Palace). Though extensively modified in Strawberry Hill style between 1804 and 1805 by Georg Fischer, its tower contains an original...
Prašná brána (Powder Tower)
For many years, the eastern wall of the city was guarded by an imposing gatehouse on the road leading to the royal mint at Kutná Hora. In time, it came to form the entrance to...
Church of Our Lady of the Snows
Ordained by Charles IV in 1347 on the day after his coronation, the original intention was to construct a great triple-aisled basilica reflecting the status of Prague as a second Rome. Even its name –...
