an illustrated guide to Czech architecture and heritage
The Sanitation Act of 1893 led directly to the destruction of much of the Old Jewish Town of Prague; what replaced the centuries-old ghetto were tall art-nouveau buildings in the Parisian style. Indeed, the glistening new thoroughfare that...
The short mediaeval street near the Convent of Saint Agnes has a fascinating history. In the Middle Ages, Prague’s Municipal Court (Obecní dvůr) had its seat here. Two doors away sat the Censors, whose job it was to...
At the end of the nineteenth century, the demand for new housing led to an explosion of residential buildings beyond the traditional boundaries of the city. Charkovská (or as it was first known, Nerudova) twenty minutes from the...
The historical region of Lusatia is nowadays divided between Saxony and southwest Poland; but its people, the Sorbs, have always felt closest to the Czechs, not least because of their shared language and traditions. In the 18th century,...
Neo-classical doorway in the elegant residential district of Vinohrady, appropriately bearing the Latin inscription ‘Welcome’. Once lying outide the city walls, Vinohrady is named after the vineyards which were planted here in the reign of Charles IV –...
This town house in Štěpánská (Saint Stephen’s Street) dates from 1873 and is the work of Václav Kaura and Alois Doubrava. Strongly inspired by Roman architecture, its neo-classical facade combines many elements that would have been familiar to...
Saint Wenceslas (Svatý Václav) was a tenth-century duke of Bohemia and patron of the Czech lands. His good deeds, particularly those carried out with his page Podevin, became the subject of a favourite English Christmas carol, since when...
A fine example of a neo-classical frontage in the attractive tree-lined Londýnská (London Street), part of the residential district of Vinohrady.
At the time it was constructed, this impressive neo-baroque building stood on the corner of Karlova třída (Charles Avenue) and Komenského náměstí (Comenius Square). Nowadays Karlova třída is named after Yugoslavia; and the square – one of Prague’s...
A fine 1904 example of a historicist doorway in the residential district of Vinohrady, combining elements of classical, baroque and art nouveau.
