Hybernská 1001/10: Hotel Central
The construction of Prague’s ‘Hotel Central’ began in 1898. The work of three architects — Bedřich (Friedrich) Ohmann, Bedřich Bendelmayer, and Alois Dryák — it was built by the firm of Quido Bělský, whose name...
Tagged: inscriptions
Jindřišská 909/14: Main Post Office
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...
Tolstého 522/11 and 523/13
The ornate Parisian-style apartment blocks of Kodaňská Street and its immediate neighbourhood are some of the most impressive domestic houses in Prague. But even those not facing directly onto that grand boulevard still have a...
Polská 1283/18: ‘The Assyrian Kings’
Prague’s well-heeled residential district of Vinohrady is renowned for its grand apartment blocks, built at the turn of the 20th century in a variety of historicist styles. Their monumental entrances and lavish facades present a...
Mšené-Lázně, Pavilion Hall
The mineral springs of the north Bohemian village of Mšené-Lázně have enjoyed a long reputation, in particular for their effective treatment of bowel disorders and inflammations of the nervous system. Less famous than the thermal...
Church of Saint Joseph, and Na Poříčí 1077/1
Alongside the refurbished barracks that now form the Palladium shopping centre in Prague’s New Town sits the unassuming single-gabled church of St Joseph. It was built between 1636 and 1653 by Melichar Mayer for the...
Prokopova 216/4: Bethlehem Chapel in Žižkov
Six hundred years ago, in 1414, the practice of administering communion ‘in both kinds’ (i.e. with consecrated bread and wine for all participants, not just the clergy) was restored in Prague. The execution of the...
Václavské náměstí: Statue of Saint Wenceslas
Prince Václav I – known to the English-speaking world as ‘Good King Wenceslas’ – was one of Bohemia’s first Christian rulers. On 28 September in the year 929 (some say 935) he was murdered by...
Vrchlického sady: President Woodrow Wilson
The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918 saw the emergence of a number of independent European nation-states, of which Czechoslovakia was one. Instrumental in the creation of the new republic was the then president...
Heroldovy sady 411/3
The first village schoolmaster in Vršovice was appointed in the 17th century, and we know that in 1797 Matouš Holub was running a small school from his family cottage near the Botič stream. But the...
