Buquoy Palace
*French Republic Embassy
Significant photo
Fotogalerie
Info text
Baroque Buquoy Palace stands on a site, which in the 12th century was donated by King Vladislav the Second to the Johannites for the purposes of building a church and a hospital. Today's appearance of the palace was created by connecting and transforming three standalone houses, it was completed in 1736 according to the plans of architect Johann Georg Aichbauer. In 1748, the still unfinished palace was bought by the Buqouys family to be used as their seat in Prague. The main
facade of the palace, in front of which stands a number of stone columns, is a practical example of Baroque architecture playing with optical illusions. The height of the facade actually corresponds only to half of the height of the palace standing behind it; the rest is a scene conveying an illusion of monumentality to the structure.
Since 1919, the palace houses the Embassy of the French Republic, the main ally of Czechoslovakia between World War I and World War II.
