Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Exhibitions are occasionally staged in the church's gallery, which gives you a great chance
to look down on the nave and get closer to the frescoes. It's also possible to climb the belfry ,
for fine views over Malá Strana and the Charles Bridge. During the decades of Communist
rule these views came in handy for Prague's secret police who used the belfry to spy on the
nearby Western embassies (especially the comings and goings at the US Embassy) and dis-
sident activity around Malá Strana.
THE CHURCH OF SV MIKULÁŠ - A FAMILY AFFAIR
Begun in 1702 the church of sv Mikuláš was the most prestigious commission of Chris-
toph Dientzenhofer , a German immigrant from a dynasty of Bavarian architects, and is,
without doubt, his finest work. For the Jesuits, who were already ensconced in the adjoin-
ing college, it was their most ambitious project yet in Bohemia, and the ultimate symbol
of their stranglehold on the country. When Christoph died in 1722, the project stayed in
the family with son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, along with Kilian's son-in-law, Anselmo
Lurago, left to finish the project, which they did with a masterful flourish, adding the gi-
ant green dome and tower - now among the most characteristic landmarks on Prague's left
bank. Sadly for the Jesuits, they were able to enjoy the finished product for just twenty
years before they were banished from the Habsburg Empire in 1773.
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Nerudova
The most important of the various cobbled streets leading up to the Hrad from Malostranské
náměstí is Nerudova , part of the Royal Way that leads from the Nové Město - and hence its
permanent occupation by tourists.
Many of the Baroque houses that line the steep climb up to the Hrad retain their medieval
barn doors, and most are adorned with their own peculiar house signs . At the bottom of the
street are two of Nerudova's fancier buildings: no. 5 is the Morzinský palác , now the Ro-
manian embassy, its doorway designed by Giovanni Santini and supported by two Moors (a
pun on the owner's name) sculpted by Brokof; diagonally opposite, no. 20 is the Thun-Ho-
henštejnskýpalác (alsobySantini),nowtheItalianembassy,withtwogianteaglesbyBraun
holding up the portal. Further up the street, according to Prague folklore Casanova and Moz-
artarebelievedtohavemetataballgivenbythearistocratownersofno.33,the Bretfeldský
palác , in 1791, when Mozart was in town for the premiere of La Clemenza di Tito .
Halfway up the hill, Nerudova ends at a crossroads where it meets the cobbled hairpin of
Ke Hradu, which the royal coronation procession used to ascend.
 
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