Unique Places in Prague

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This monastery was built in 1182 on the place of an older construction from 1140.

Through the centuries it has been destroyed by fire, bombarded and ransacked by the Hussites as well as by other armies. Most of the buildings we see today was constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The highlight of this monastery is the library. This is made of two magnificient halls containing old volumes and manuscripts. The Theological Hall (1679-1727) and the Philosophical Hall (1797). Unfortunately you can't enter inside these halls. You can only peak into them from the corridor. These two halls are connected by a corridor that houses an extensive collection of various things as insects, a few weapons, lots of stuffed animals, minerals et al).

Within the monastery precinct there are also the church of the Assumption (1743-1752); a picture gallery, a deconsacrated chapel now used as exibitions hall and a couple of restaurants. One of these is also a brewerery.

You can go to the monastery by tram n. 15 or n. 22. Get off at Pohorelec tram stop.

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Back in the 14th century, a huge wall was built around Petrin Hill as part of the fortifications protecting the Prague Castle and Little Quarter areas. The original wall was over 4 m tall, nearly 2 m wide, and it featured 8 bastions. Today, about 1200 m of the Medieval wall remain in the Petrin Park area - it ends near the foot of the Legion bridge, at the corner of Ujezd and Vitezna. It became known as the Hunger Wall because its construction coincided with the great famine that hit the country in the 1360s and provided employment and a source of income to hundreds of people who might otherwise have died of starvation.

Next to the wall, you'll find the “Monument to the victims of Communism” by Olbram Zoubek. This interesting monument was unveiled in 2002 and it features a group of six scultpures depicting men literally falling to pieces. It is meant to represent how Communism, which lasted from 1948 to 1989 in former Czechoslovakia, ate away at people's mind, body and soul.

In 2004, on the 80th anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, the city of Prague unveiled a monument on Dusni Street, near the house in which Kafka lived in the Jewish Quarter. The bronze statue was designed by Czech sculptor Jaroslav Rona and it features the famous author sitting on the shoulders of a larger-than-life business suit. Rona found his inspiration for the sculpture in one of Kafka's earliest surviving stories called "Description of a Struggle", which includes a passage where the protagonist rides on someone's back into an imaginary world.

House of the Black Mother (U Černé Matky Boží) is a house that originally housed a department store on the ground floor. It was designed by designed by Josef Gočár in 1912 and is the first example of cubist architecture in Prague. Interestingly, it is surrounded by an older baroque building. It gets its name from the statue of the black madonna that today stands in a small sanctuary on the corner of the building.

Today, the building serves as the home of the Czech Museum of Cubism.

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Just as I was preparing to cross the street to go to the Charles Bridge. I looked aside and saw this in the courtyard..intriguing I thought. I just wondered into the courtyard to get a better look... turns out it was a museum of modern art. I'm not normally one for modern art..but I have to say that this looked pretty good.

The House at the Stone Bell uses the old way of finding a house, it had a distinguishing feature. In this case, a stone bell on the corner of the building. You can still see the bell today, but it is a replica. The building, right on Old Town Square looks pretty but probably gets relatively few visitors because it is not particularly well labelled and it has pretty formidable competition in the square.

This house, first mentioned in the 1300s was most likely a small palace from the time of Charles IV. After many twists and turns the house was rebuilt in Baroque style. Then in 1961 it was decided to restore its original Gothic features. Actual restoration finished in 1987

Today it houses the Gallery of the City of Prague.
Opening hours:
daily except Mo 10 - 20

Admission:
120 Kč, reduced 60 Kč
Website in Czech only

If you want a blast from the past, check out Anděl Metro, (line B)
Built by the Soviets, it is dedicated to Soviet-Czech Friendship
and has a set of propaganda posters there.
The station was originally named Moskevska but the name was changed after
the end of communism.

Right to the side of the Old Town Tower is the Church of St Salvator, which forms part of the Pragues Jesuit Klementinium. The church was built between 1578-1601 in Gothic Style, but much of it was finished in Baroque style later in 1649. What is odd about this church is it that it has an enormous irony. Under its crypt lie Father Koniáš “the destroyer of Czech books” but also “the defender of the Czech language” — Bohuslav Balbín.

The church is pretty and is used for a lot of classical music concerts these days. It has two organs instead of the usual one organ

St. Salvator Church Charles Bridge
Krizovnicke namesti 2
Tram stop: Staromestska (trams 17, 18, 53)