Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The destruction of the east wing of the town hall in 1945 rudely exposed Kilian Ignaz Di-
entzenhofer's church of sv Mikuláš , built in just three years between 1732 and 1735. The
original was founded by German merchants in the thirteenth century, and served as Staré
Město's parish church until the Týn church was completed. Later, it was handed over to the
Benedictines, who commissioned Dientzenhofer to replace it with the present building. His
hand is obvious: the south front is decidedly luscious - Braun's blackened statuary pop up at
every cornice - promising an interior to surpass even its sister church of sv Mikuláš in Malá
Strana, which Dientzenhofer built with his father immediately afterwards. Inside, however,
it's a much smaller space, theatrically organized into a series of interlocking curves. It's also
rather plainly furnished, partly because it was closed down by Joseph II and turned into a
storehouse for grain and furniture. Instead, your eyes are drawn sharply upwards to the im-
pressive stuccowork, the wrought-iron galleries and the trompe l'oeil frescoes on the dome.
The acoustics are superb, and the church hosts regular concerts .
Palác Kinských - Asian art
Staroměstské náměstí 12 • Daily 10am-6pm • 50Kč • 224 810 758, ngprague.cz • Metro Staroměstská
The largest secular building on Old Town Square is the Rococo Palác Kinských , designed
byKilianIgnazDientzenhoferandbuiltbyhisson-in-lawAnselmoLurago.Inthenineteenth
century it had a German Gymnasium at the rear, attended by, among others, Franz Kafka
(whose father ran a haberdashery shop on the ground floor - now a Kafka bookshop). The
palace is perhaps most notorious, however, as the venue for the fateful speech by the Com-
munist prime minister, Klement Gottwald, who walked out onto the grey stone balcony one
snowy February morning in 1948, flanked by Party honchos, to address thousands of enthu-
siastic supporters who packed the square below. This was the beginning of Vitězná února
(Victorious February), the bloodless coup that brought the Communists to power and sealed
the fate of the country for the next 41 years. Today the building is partially in the care of the
NationalGallery , which displays the best of its extensive collection of Asianart here along
with temporary exhibitions on Oriental themes.
Dům U kamenného zvonu (House at the Stone Bell)
Staroměstské náměstí 13 • Tues-Sun 10am-8pm • 120Kč • 224 828 245, ghmp.cz • Metro Staroměstská
Untilthe1970s, DůmUkamennéhozvonu wasmuchlikeanyotherofthemerchant houses
that line Old Town Square - covered in a thick icing of Baroque plasterwork and topped
by an undistinguished roof gable. In the process of restoration, however, it was controver-
sially stripped down to its Gothic core, which uncovered the original honey-coloured stone-
work and simple wedge roof, and it now serves as a central venue for cutting-edge modern
art exhibitions, lectures and concerts organized by the Galerie hlavního města Prahy (City
Gallery Prague).
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