Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has an original Gothic vault, but its Gothic treasures are in a
Prague museum. The altar and windows, while lovely, are Neo-
Gothic, dating only from the 19th century. Climb the 200 steps to
the tower to enjoy a commanding city view (15 Kč).
Strolling Between the Royal Town
and the Cathedral
Connect the two sightseeing zones with a short walk along the
city's main drag. Leaving the Upper Square on Ostružnická street,
you'll pass real-estate offices (a home in a village or apartment here
goes for about 1.5 million Kč, or about $90,000), and lots of book-
stores (supplying 17,000 local university students).
When you hit the main road, Denisova, notice the fine gas
streetlamp that lit the street in 1899, when the tram first ran.
Follow the tram line toward the lacy spire of the cathedral in the
distance.
The mix of facades, from Gothic to Art Nouveau, masks nar-
row medieval buildings. At Univerzitní street, a quick detour to the
right leads past the Vertigo Bar (where students believe a mind is
a wonderful thing to waste) to the grand and renovated University
building on the left (with its handy Café Restaurant Konvikt and a
courtyard with a nice view over the town wall).
Continuing up the main drag, you pass the Museum of
Art (interesting) and the Natural History Museum (boring). If
you visit the art museum (50 Kč, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed
Mon, Denisova 47), save your ticket—it'll also get you into the
Archdiocesan Museum (described on the next page).
The big square called Náměstí Republiky is marked by a
fountain inspired by Bernini's Triton Fountain in Rome (see “The
Baroque Fountains of Olomouc,” page 233). The Jesuits—whose
gorgeous church faces the square—founded the original university
in the 16th century. This square marks the division between the
royal town and the bishop's town. Ahead (past the square, veering
a bit to the right), Mariánská street leads to the archbishop's stately
17th-century palace (closed to the public). On the slopes below the
palace are Jesuit colleges (now university classrooms) and a Clarist
convent, now a museum.
In the Bishop's Town, near the Cathedral
St. Wenceslas Cathedral (Dóm Sv. Václava)
—his has sup-
posedly been the resident church of Olomouc's bishops ever since
the Christian missionaries Cyril and Methodius visited in the
ninth century. The present church has been rebuilt many times.
While it maintains its Gothic lines, what you see is 19th-century
pseudo-Gothic, with Neo-Renaissance paintings. The crypt
houses a collection of liturgical ornaments—the second-largest
