Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tickets
For the sights within the castle, including the cathedral, there are two main types of
ticket available. The velký okruh, or long tour (350Kč), gives you entry to most sights, in-
cluding the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of sv Jiří, the Prague Castle Picture Gallery, the
Story of Prague Castle exhibition, St Vitus Cathedral, the Rosenberg Palace and the Golden
Lane. The malý okruh, or short tour (250Kč), only covers the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica
of sv Jiří, the Cathedral of St Vitus and the Golden Lane. Tickets to some of the individual
sights are also available. Tickets are valid for two days and available from several places, in-
cluding the main information centre in the third courtyard, opposite the cathedral, where you
can also rent an English-language audio-guide (350Kč for 3hr).
Contact details
224 372 423,
hrad.cz
,
kulturanahrade.cz
The first courtyard
The
first courtyard
(první nádvoří), which opens onto Hradčanské náměstí, is guarded by
Ignaz Platzer's bloodcurdling
Battling Titans
- two gargantuan figures, one on each of the
gate piers, wielding club and dagger and about to inflict fatal blows on their respective vic-
tims. Below them stand a couple of impassive presidential sentries, dressed according to the
weather and now protected from a photographing public by a set of railings. The hourly
Changing of the Guard
(Střídaní stráží) is a fairly subdued affair, but every day at noon
there's a much more elaborate ceremony, accompanied by a brass ensemble which appears
at the first-floor windows to play local rock star Michal Kocáb's specially commissioned,
gentle, modern fanfare.
The second courtyard
Passing through the early Baroque Matyášova brána (Matthias Gate), originally a freestand-
ing triumphal arch in the middle of the long-since defunct moat, but now set into one of Pa-
cassi'sfeatureless wings, youreach the
secondcourtyard
(druhénádvoří). Agrandstairway
leads to the presidential apartments in the south wing (off limits to the public), while to the
north you can peek in at the beautiful Neoclassical lines of Josip Plečnik's Hall of Columns,
which leads to the two grandest reception rooms in the entire complex: the
Španělský sál
(Spanish Hall) and the
Rudolfova galerie
(Rudolf Gallery) in the north wing. Sadly, both
are generally out of bounds, though concerts are occasionally held in the Španělský sál. Both
rooms were redecorated in the 1860s with lots of gilded chandeliers and mirrors for Emperor
Franz-Joseph I's coronation as King of Bohemia, though in the end he decided not to turn
up. Under the Communists, the Rudolfova galerie was the incongruous setting for Politburo
meetings.
SurroundedbymonotonousPacassiplasterwork,thecourtyarditselfisreallyjustathrough-
route to the cathedral, with an early Baroque stone fountain, the
Kohlova kašna
, and a
wrought-iron well grille the only obvious distractions. The striking gilded sculpture of a
winged leopard by Bořek Šípek, at the entrance to the east wing, is a
postmodern homage
