Prague Castle and Hradčany

The twin spires of Strahov Monastery rise above the Petrin Hill ridge, their copper roofs weathered to a distinctive pale green. Founded in eleven forty-three for the Premonstratensian order, the monastery served as a vital intellectual…

The Loreto is defined by the three-story high Baroque facade dominated by a central tower that houses a famous carillon of twenty-seven bells. Founded in sixteen twenty-six by the noblewoman Katerina of Lobkowicz, this complex of chapels…

The Schwarzenberg Palace carries a heavy facade of sgraffito, a dense pattern of black and white rectangles that mimics rusticated stone blocks. Built in the middle of the sixteenth century for the Lobkowitz family, the palace became a…

The stone balustrade at Hradčanské Square overlooks the jagged red tile rooftops of the Lesser Town. This spot offers a view that changed drastically in seventeen twenty-four, when architect František Maximilián Kaňka designed this terrace…

The Great South Tower of Saint Vitus Cathedral ends in a distinct, copper-green gallery that sits nearly three hundred feet above the Prague skyline. Construction began here in thirteen forty-four under the direction of Matthias of Arras,…

St. George’s Basilica displays a vibrant, brick-red facade that stands out against the gray stone of the surrounding Prague Castle complex. Founded in nine hundred twenty by Prince Vratislav the first, it serves as the final resting place…

Golden Lane is a row of twenty-six tiny, brightly colored houses built directly into the space between the fortification walls of Prague Castle. These structures originally served as barracks for the castle guards in the sixteenth century.…