Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Palác Adria
Národní třída 40 • Metro Můstek
Diagonally opposite the ARA department store is Jungmannovo náměstí's most imposing
building, the chunky, vigorously sculptured
Palác Adria
. It was designed in the early 1920s
by Pavel Janák and Josef Zasche, with sculptural extras by Otto Gutfreund and a central
Sea-
faring
group by Jan Štursa. Janák was a pioneering figure in the short-lived, prewar Czech
Cubistmovement;afterthewar,heandJosefGočárattemptedtocreateanationalstyleofar-
chitecture appropriate for the new republic. The style was dubbed “Rondo-Cubism” - semi-
circular motifs are a recurrent theme - though the Palác Adria owes as much to the Italian
Renaissance as it does to the new national style.
Constructed for the Italian insurance company Reunione Adriatica di Sicurità - hence its
current name - the building's
pasáž
retains its wonderful original portal featuring sculptures
by Bohumil Kafka, depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac. The theatre in the basement
of the building was once a studio for the multimedia
Laterna magika
(Magic Lantern)
company. In 1989, it became the underground nerve centre of the Velvet Revolution, when
Občanské fórum (Civic Forum) found temporary shelter here shortly after their inaugural
meeting on the Sunday following the November 17 demonstration. Against a stage backdrop
for Dürenmatt's
Minotaurus
, the Forum thrashed out tactics in the dressing rooms and gave
daily press conferences in the auditorium during the crucial fortnight before the Communists
relinquished power.
Panna Maria Sněžná
Jungmannovo náměstí 18 • 224 490 340,
pms.ofm.cz
• Metro Můstek
Right beside the Cubist streetlamp on Jungmannovo náměstí stands the medieval gateway of
the Franciscan
church of Panna Maria Sněžná
(St Mary of the Snows), once one of the
great landmarks of Wenceslas Square, but now barely visible from any of the surrounding
streets. To enter the church, go through the archway beside the Austrian Cultural Institute,
behind the statue of Jungmann, and across the courtyard beyond. Like most of Nové Město's
churches, the Panna Maria Sněžná was founded by Charles IV, who envisaged a vast coron-
ation church on a scale comparable with the St Vitus Cathedral. Unfortunately, the Hussite
wars intervened and only the chancel was completed; the result is curious - a church that is
short in depth but outstrips the cathedral in height. The 30m-high, prettily painted vaulting -
which collapsed on the Franciscans who inherited the half-completed building in the seven-
teenth century - is magnificent, as is the gold and black early Baroque main altar, Prague's
tallest, which touches the ceiling. To get an idea of the intended scale of the finished struc-
ture, take a stroll through the
Františkanská zahrada
, south of the church; these gardens
make a lovely hideaway from Nové Mesto's bustle and a picnic oasis, marred only by the
modern garden furniture.