Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The monastery libraries
Daily 9am-noon & 1-5pm • 80Kč • 233 107 718
The real reason most visitors head to Strahov is to see the monastery's two ornate
libraries
;
the entrance for both is to the right as you enter the outer courtyard. The first library you
come to is the later and larger of the two, the
Filosofický sál
(Philosophical Hall), built in
somehasteinthe1780sinordertoaccommodate thebooksandbookcasesfromLoukamon-
astery in Moravia that failed to escape Joseph's decree. The tall walnut bookcases touch the
library's lofty ceiling, which is busily decorated with frescoes by the Viennese painter Franz
Maulbertschonthethemeofthesearchfortruth.Don'tmissthecollectionofcuriosexhibited
intheglasscabinetsoutsidethelibrary,whichfeaturesshells,turtles,crabs,lobsters,dried-up
sea monsters, butterflies, beetles, plastic fruit and moths. There's even a pair of whales' pen-
ises displayed alongside a narwhal horn, several harpoons and a model ship. The other main
room, seventy years older than the Philosophical Hall, is the low-ceilinged
Teologický sál
(TheologicalHall),studdedwithancientglobes,itswedding-cakestuccoframingfrescoeson
a similar theme. The library's oldest book, the ninth-century gem-studded Strahov Gospel, is
displayed outside. Look out, too, for the cabinet of topics documenting Czech trees, each of
which has a certain type of bark on its spine.
Strahovská obrazárna (monastery art gallery)
Daily 9am-noon & 12.30-5pm • 80Kč
An archway on the far side of the monastery contains the ticket office for the monastery's art
gallery,the
Strahovskáobrazárna
,situatedabovethecloistersandaccessible fromthedoor
on the right, beyond the ticket office. The gallery's collection of religious art, church plate
and reliquaries, reassembled in the early 1990s after it was broken up by the authorities in
the late 1940s, is a mere fraction of the monastery's total. The items displayed may not be
to everyone's taste, but include the odd gem from Rudolf II's collection - not least a portrait
of the emperor himself by Hans von Aachen, plus a superb portrait of Rembrandt's elderly
mother by Gerrit Dou. There are also a few paintings by Baroque masters Brandl and Škréta.
Muzeum miniatur (Museum of Miniatures)
Daily 9am-5pm • 100Kč •
muzeumminiatur.cz
The Strahov Monastery is the unlikely home of the
Muzeum miniatur
, in the northeastern
corner of the main courtyard. Displayed in this small museum are forty or so works by
Anatoly Konyenko
, a Russian who holds the record for constructing the smallest book in
theworld,athirty-page edition ofChekhov's
Chameleon
.Amongtheothermiracles ofmini-
ature manufacture are a (real, though dead) flea bearing golden horseshoes; scissors; a key
andlock;theLord'sPrayerwrittenonahumanhair;andacaravanofcamelspassingthrough
the eye of a needle.
