The House of the Black Madonna holds a jagged, cubist corner that breaks from the soft lines of the surrounding baroque architecture. Josef Gocar designed the building in nineteen twelve to house a department store, but he filled the…
Old Town House Symbols
Decode the visual language of medieval Prague before house numbers existed, when citizens navigated by the pictures on their doors. This walk through the oldest alleys reveals the stories behind stone lambs, golden keys, and blue horses, leaving you with a sharp eye for the city's street-level history.
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1. House of the Black Madonna
2. Prague Museum – House at the Golden Ring
The House at the Golden Ring stands out for the prominent, gilded ring hanging above its main entrance, a relic of a time when house signs served as addresses. This building connects two medieval houses into a single complex of Gothic and…
3. Stone Bell House
The Stone Bell House features a jagged, dark stone facade adorned with a prominent golden bell hanging from its corner. This fourteenth-century Gothic palace hides beneath layers of later Baroque plaster for centuries, concealing its true…
4. The House at the Stone Virgin Mary (Storch's House)
A facade covered in vibrant frescoes occupies the corner of the Old Town Square, depicting the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus while surrounded by saints. Above the entrance, a stone statue of the Virgin Mary stands nestled within a…
5. House at the Two Golden Bears
The House at the Two Golden Bears features two gilded bears sculpted in stone above the main entrance portal. This building dates back to the fourteenth century, though its current appearance comes from an extensive Renaissance…
6. The House at the Minute
The House at the Minute features a black-and-white facade covered in intricate sgraffito illustrations of biblical scenes, mythological figures, and alchemical symbols. This sixteenth-century merchant house served as a home for the Kafka…
7. Dům u Zlaté studny
The house at the Golden Well features a facade covered in dense, gilded stucco ornaments and a prominent sculpture of a saint reaching toward a small bucket. Built in the late seventeenth century, this structure replaced an older gothic…
8. Beer Restaurant U Zlatého Hada
The house at the corner of Karlova street bears a gilded stone snake coiled above the entrance, marking the U Zlateho Hada beer restaurant. This building housed one of the very first coffee houses in Prague, opened in seventeen fourteen by…