Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tures by Adriaen de Vries. The originals, which were intended to form a fountain, were taken
off as booty by the Swedes in 1648 and now adorn the royal gardens in Drottningholm. In
addition, there are a number of peacocks, a carp pond, the mother of all grottos and an old
menagerie, which is now home to a mini-parliament of eagle owls.
Valdštejnská jízdárna (Wallenstein Riding School)
Valdštejnská 3 • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • 150Kč • 257 073 136,
ngprague.cz
• Metro Malostranská
At the northern end of the Valdštejnská zahrada, the palace's former riding school,
Valdšte-
jnskájízdárna
,isnowpartofthe
NationalGallery
-thespaceisusedfortemporaryexhib-
itions of fine art and photography. The riding school is accessible only from the courtyard of
the nearby Malostranská metro station.
Pedagogické muzeum (Education Museum)
Valdštejnská 20 • Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 1-5pm • 60Kč • 257 533 455,
pmjak.cz
• Metro
Malostranská
A palace opposite the Senate on Valdštejnská houses the
Pedagogické muzeum
, one of the
Czech Republic's oldest museums, holding a permanent exhibition on the history of educa-
tionintheCzechLands.Despitearevampinthelatenoughties,themuseumisafairlydryaf-
fair,althoughyoudogettolearnabouttheCzechteacher
JanAmosKomenský
(1592-1670)
- known in English as John Comenius - who was forced to leave his homeland after the vic-
tory of Waldstein's Catholic armies, eventually settling in Protestant England. Komenský's
educational methods are taken for granted now but they were revolutionary for their time:
amongotherthings,hebelievedinuniversaleducation,inrelatingeducationtoeverydaylife,
teaching in the vernacular and learning languages through conversation.
Sv Tomáš
Josefská 8 • Mon-Sat 11.30am-1pm, Sun 4-6pm • 257 530 556 • Tram #12, #20 or #22 to Malostranské
náměstí
To the northeast of Malostranské náměstí, just before the tramlines running along Letenská
squeeze under a set of flying butresses, the priory
church of sv Tomáš
(St Thomas) stands
in its Baroque finery, demanding attention. It was rebuilt by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer in
the 1720s and the rich burghers of Malá Strana spared no expense, as is clear from the ornate
interior, with its dinky little dome and fantastically colourful frescoes by Václav Vavřinec
Reiner. They also bought a couple of Rubens for the tall main altarpiece (the originals are
now in the hands of the Národní galerie) and two dead saints, St Just and St Boniface, whose
gruesomeclothedskeletonslieinglasscoffinsoneithersideofthenave,bythesecondpillar.
