New Town

You are now standing on the Republic Square in front of the Powder Gate dating from the 15th century and representative of the main Old Town gates. It is connected to the "Obecní Dům" (Municipal House), a popular Art Nouveau building constructed between 1905 and 1911. It is here that the independence of Czechoslovakia was solemnly proclaimed, hence the name Republic Square. The Obecní Dům is a cultural centre. We recommend visiting the Art Nouveau coffeehouse on the left side

The Na Příkopě Street separates the Old Town from the New Town. It was created in the 18th century when the fortification moat was filled up. When the underground was built, the street was made pedestrian. There are many offices, banks and stores. It is one of the most expensive streets in Prague.
The Classicist church of St. Cross was built for the Piarists Order. In the adjacent Panská Street is the Mucha's Museum, a renowned Czech Art Nouveau painter. If you like Art Nouveau, just have a go, you won´t regret it. The commercial bank is adjacent to

The name "Můstek" (Little Bridge) reminds us that there was in this place a small medieval stone bridge, which used to be over the trench of the fortification walls. Today, its remains decorates the vestibule of the underground station. The Wenceslas Square, the largest thoroughfare in Prague, runs all the way to the National Museum. It is 682 meters long and 62 meters wide. The square was originally used as a horse market. It is an important shopping area, busy, lively and it plays an important part in Prague social life. It has also witnessed many significant political events. After the construction of the underground, trams stopped running up and

The Wenceslas Square is connected to important political events. On October 28th 1918, the independence of our country was spontaneously declared here during a public assembly, as well as the abolition of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, hence our national holiday being on October 28th. During the August invasion in 1968, Soviet tanks shot at the National Museum. Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc burned themselves to death on this square, as a protest against the coming "Normalization" and growing lethargy of our nation. Václav Havel gave a speech from the

The Lucerna Palace was built between 1907 and 1915 following the owner, architect Václav Havel´s project (grandfather of the President Václav Havel), in cooperation with Mr. Bechyně. The palace is a complex of Art Nouveau buildings with arcades and atriums, a movie theatre (the first cinema one at the Wenceslas Square and one of the oldest ones in Prague, still operating today), and with a large dancing and concert hall. It is the first iron-concrete structure in Prague. It was designed to integrate several functions – to provide suitable space for commerce, living,

A relief double-wing gate leads to the Franciscan Garden. The gate´s decoration takes inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi. The gate belongs to the Franciscan Monastery, a single-floor Baroque structure from the 17th century. The Order of Franciscans was reinstated here after 1989. The Franciscans are now using the church of the Virgin Mary Sněžná. It is the highest church in Prague, which can be seen best from the garden.
The garden will pleasantly surprise you with its quietness right in the middle of a busy city. The Prague residents use the garden as a shortcut from the Wenceslas Square to

Josef Jungmann bronze statue stands in the center of the square. He was a renowned 19th century Czech linguist and author of a Czech-German Dictionary. The Adrie Palace was built for the Italian Insurance Company Réunione Adriatica di Scurta in a Cubist style between 1923 and 1924. The architect named Janák got inspiration from the Venice Renaissance architecture. The facade is decorated with a group sculpture named "Mořeplavba" (Ocean Cruise) by sculptor Štursa. The theatre Laterna Magika was created here

The Národní Street was created in the 18th century when a trench was filled up. It is a busy commercial street. On November 17th 1989, the Communists violently ended a peaceful student demonstration here. In the 14th century, the Empire Palace Platýz was the Burgundy Grand Dukes palace. Today´s appearance comes from 19th century rebuilding.
20th

The distinctive two-floor, High Baroque Schirdinger Palace ( named after J. A. Schirdinger of Schirding who was one of the owners) is called the "Kaňkův Dům" (Kaňka's House) because Mr. Kaňka used to live there, a renowned benefactor, collector, attorney and grandson of a famous Baroque architect. The Czech Bar Association has its headquarters here. A bronze memorial plaque (installed in 1990 and designed by O. Příhoda) bears the date of November 17th 1989 showing human hands. It was installed in the place where police violently intervened to stop a peaceful student demonstration on November 17th 1989,

The Masaryk Embankment bears the name of the first Czechoslovak President, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. He was one of the founders of independent Czechoslovakia, and you can see his portrait on the Czech 5,000 ČK banknote. A walk along the embankment will present you with a number of buildings from the beginning of the 20th century. All along you can

The Functionalist Mánes Building was opened in 1930. It is one of the most beautiful exemples of such architecture in our country and in Europe. It was built for the needs of the Mánes Artist Association (founded in 1898), which put together several generations of Czech painters, sculptors, architects, and art historians. Among international members we find for instance A. Rodin, P. Picasso, M. Chagall, Le Corbusier, and many others. The building was named after the painter Josef Mánes, who for example

The building by architects Milunič and Gehry was the object of numerous discussions already before its completion in 1996. It represents "Ginger and Fred", the legendary dancers Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, they were famous stars in Hollywood musicals in the thirties and forties of the 20th century. Fred Astaire is represented by the concrete tower, Ginger by the glass tower. The glass tower is bent so as not to block the view from the next door building. At the top of the "Fred Astaire" tower there is a dome made of metal pipes and stainless-steel mesh that represents

The Baroque Church of St. Cyrillus & St. Methodius has been used by the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church since the year of 1935. The undercroft of the church was the hiding place of the paratroopers, who, during World War II assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the German Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Protectorate. His death initiated infamous actions by the Nazis. As a result, thousands of people were murdered or taken to concentration camps, and the villages of Lidice and Ležáky were burned to the ground.
On June 18, 1942, the Gestapo found the refuge of the paratroopers, surrounded, they committed suicides.

Even at the time when the New Town was being planned, Charles Square was designed to be the city’s largest public open space. The New Town Hall was built on one side and the square became the largest market in the New Town. Its initial name was Cattle Market, but the current one commemorates its founder Emperor Charles IV. In the 19th century, a beautiful park was set on Prague’s biggest square, which covers 80.550m2. The park includes numerous rare trees and statues of personalities from the Czech history. The St Ignatius Church, used by the Jesuits, dates from the 17th century and is adorned with the magnificent statue of said saint