Gröbe Villa (Grébovka)
In 1871, a kilometre-long train tunnel was constructed under the high ground of this historic district on the southern side of the city. Moritz Gröbe, the railway magnate whose company was responsible for digging it,...
Tagged: ornamentation
Malostranské nábřeží 563/3
A magnificent double-height neo-classical doorway with ironwork grille and triumphal embellishments: one of a number of grand residential statements on a stretch of the embankment adjacent to Kampa island.
Polská 1352/32
The complex patterns on the facade of this 1905 house by Jan Majer and Jan Bláha are suggestive of natural designs such as those of the spider’s web, one reason for including the creature itself....
Masarykovo nábřeží 248/16, Hlahol building
This art nouveau house on the right bank of the Vltava was built between 1903 and 1905 for the Prague choral society ‘Hlahol’ – whose name means something like ‘clamour’ or ‘peal’. The interior is...
Prague Castle: Spanish Hall
Conceived in the late 1500s by the architect Giovanni Gargioli and completed in 1602-8 by Giovanni Maria Filippi, the Spanish Hall (Španělský sál) is one of the most impressive of Prague Castle’s state rooms. Named...
Vozová 1567/8: U Severní Točny
To reach the North Pole became a worldwide obsession in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The American Robert Peary’s arrival there on 6 April 1909 made international headlines, and could well be the...
Svatoslavova 589/9
‘Ave Maria!’: bas-relief in a geometric art-nouveau frame adorns the facade of this townhouse in the southern suburb of Nusle.
Maiselova 41/21
The ‘asanace’ (or cleansing) of the old Jewish town of Prague began in earnest in 1895. Synagogues were preserved, but six hundred ordinary dwellings were destroyed in favour of a ambitious new streetplan. Central to...
Pařížská 98/17: Old Synagogue Restaurant
Elaborately painted and gilded stucco-work adorns the art-nouveau facade of The Old Synagogue restaurant in Prague’s Josefov district, designed in 1906 by the architects František Weyr and Richard Klenka of Vlastimil. The restaurant – whose...
Dušní 141/12: The Spanish Synagogue
Erected on the site of the mediaeval ‘Old School’ synagogue, the present structure dates from 1868. Many names are associated with the plans for the building, including that of Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann, but it seems...
