Using today's terminology, the Lucerna Palace could be characterized as a multifunction complex.The builder of the palace was Václav Havel, grandfather of the late dissident and former President of the Czech Republic Václav Havel. The palace in an eclectic style combines features of Art Nouveau and Modern Style, it was built between the years 1906 and 1920. The structural design of the building is unique using an iron-concrete skeleton.
Thanks to the Lucerna complex, the city of Prague acquired its first modern metropolitan passage complete with shops, restaurants and food automaton, which was then definitely a new feature. On the premises was opened a modern movie theatre with a 820 seats
capacity and a large auditorium hall that can host balls, concerts as well as boxing matches. In its heydays it was one of the biggest places of its kind in Czechoslovakia. The upper floors used to house luxury apartments and artists ateliers.
The palace has preserved its special atmosphere until today, which can be experienced best in the unique coffeehouse situated in the lobby of the movie theatre. Under the glazed dome of the passage hangs a provocative statue by David Černý – a reversed monument of St. Wenceslas, our regional patron saint.
After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Lucerna Palace was returned back to the Havel family within the scope of the restitution process.
