Carolinium
*original site of Charles University
Significant photo
Fotogalerie
Info text
Charles IV founded Charles University in 1348, thus making the Czech lands a renowned center of learning. The university did not have its own building at the beginning and so the students gathered and lodged at the homes of their professors. The lectures would take place either in churches or at the professors’ homes. As time went by, dormitories were built for the students and today’s Carolinium was one of these. This dormitory was gradually enlarged and eventually the famous Aula Magna and university chapel were
built. Jan Hus was among the professors who worked here. After the overthrow of the Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain, the Emperor Ferdinand II gave the Carolinium to the Jesuits who subsequently used the complex in conjunction with their own dormitory known as the Clementinum. Today, the Carolinium is the center of Charles University and the site of its graduation ceremonies. Its current reconstructed appearances dates from the second half of the 20th century and was carried out by Jaroslav Fragner.
