Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to Plečnik
.
Occupying the southeast corner of the courtyard is Anselmo Lurago's
chapel of
sv Kříž
, whose richly painted interior now houses the
Výstava Svatovítského pokladu
(St
Vitus Treasury Exhibition; daily 10am-6pm) a gleaming display of monstrances, chalices,
elaboratelyembroideredchurchvestmentsandmanyothertreasuresamassedbythecathedral
since the eleventh century. The most interesting exhibit is probably Charles IV's gold
reliquary cross in which a piece of the Holy Cross and a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns
was kept. On the opposite side of the courtyard are the former
Císařská konírna
(Imperial
Stables), which still boast their original, magnificent Renaissance vaulting dating from the
reign of Rudolf II, and are now used to house temporary exhibitions.
PLEČNIK: POSTMODERN BEFORE HIS TIME
Born in Ljubljana,
JosipPlečnik
(1872-1957) graduated in carpentry and furniture design
from his secondary school in Graz before studying under the great Viennese architect Otto
Wagner at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. He moved to Prague in 1911 and was ap-
pointed chief architect to Prague Castle shortly after the foundation of the First Republic.
Despite having the backing of the leading Czech architect Jan Kotěra, and of President
Masaryk himself, controversy surrounded him as soon as the appointment was announced;
his non-Czech background and his quirky, eclectic style placed him at odds with the archi-
tectural establishment of the day. In fact, it wasn't until thirty years after his death, follow-
ing a major retrospective exhibition at the Pompidou in Paris in 1986, that his work was
broughttoawideraudience.Inthe1990s,Plečnik'sstyle,whichhappilyborrowselements
from any number of genres from Classical to Assyrian architecture, proved to be an inspir-
ation to a new generation of postmodern architects.
Plečnik's most conspicuous contributions to the castle are the
fir-tree flag poles
in the
firstcourtyardandthegraniteobeliskinthethirdcourtyard,buthislight-hearted touchcan
be seen throughout the castle and its gardens: check out the jokey palm tree with roped-on
copperleavesoutsidetheJízdárna;the
BullStaircase
,whichleadsdowntotheZahradana
valech; or the impressive
Sloupovásíň
(Hall of Columns), which contains the stairs going
up to the
Španělský sál
, and can be peeked at through the glass doors between the first
andsecondcourtyards.Sadly,muchofPlečnik'swork-inparticularthepresident'sprivate
apartments - remains hidden from public view.
Obrazárna Pražského hradu (Prague Castle Picture Gallery)
Daily: April-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-March 9am-4pm • 100Kč, or included in the
velký okruh ticket
• 224 373
531,
kulturanahrade.cz
Remnants of the imperial collection, begun by the
Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II
, are housed
inthefiveroomsofthe
ObrazárnaPražskéhohradu
,onthenorthsideofthesecondcourt-
yard. However, the best of what Rudolf amassed was either taken as booty by the marauding
