Petrohradská 141/52: Vila Jitřenka
This villa by the banks of the Botič – currently home to the Prague Gentlemen’s Fly Fishing Club – dates from 1738, and is therefore only slightly younger than the nearby Church of St Nicholas,...
Tagged: ornamentation
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...
Na Poříčí 1046/24: Bank of the Legions
The Bank of the Legions (Legionářská banka, or Legiobanka) was founded in 1919 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk as a depository for the savings of Czechoslovak soldiers returning from the First World War. As...
Prague Castle: State Rooms
The rococo interiors of the southern range of the presidential palace are richly decorated in gilded stucco in the manner of the adjacent (and much earlier) Spanish Hall. The entire wing was part of the...
Lyčkovo náměstí 460/6: Elementary School
In September 1424, the radical Hussite warrior Jan Žižka (who four years earlier had won a significant victory against the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund at Vitkov Hill) signed a treaty of reconciliation with the moderate...
Praha hlavní nádraží (Main Station)
A mere thirty years after the arrival of the first railways in Prague, the urgent need for expansion resulted in the demolition of the original neo-renaissance Franz Josef station. Its replacement – built between 1901...
Ječná 519/34
This framed Mother and Child appears on the ornamental facade of a neo-baroque house in Prague’s New Town. The building, at the corner of the major thoroughfare Ječná (Barley Street), is home to a traditional...
Královský Letohrádek (Royal Summer Palace)
Perched high on the castle hill overlooking the city from a viewpoint known as the Belvedere, the palace is said to be the finest example of Italian renaissance architecture outside Italy itself. Commissioned by Emperor...
Prague Castle: Míčovna (Ball-Game House)
The Great Ball Game House in the grounds of the castle dates from between 1567 and 1569 and is the work of Bonifaz Wohlmut, who also contributed to the nearby Royal Summer Palace as well...
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...
