Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EXIT TO PETŘÍN
The doorway at the eastern end of Strahov Monastery's main courtyard leads into the
terraced orchards and parkland of Petřín, which enjoys some of the finest panoramas
in Prague. A pleasant stroll leads southeast to the Petřín Lookout Tower (
CLICK HERE
), with grand views over Malá Strana and the Vltava River to the spires of the Old
Town, the TV Tower and the National Monument on Vítkov Hill.
Lying on a table in the corridor connecting Strahov Library's two baroque halls,
beside the model ship and narwhal tusk, are two long, brown, leathery things. If
you ask, the prudish attendant will tell you they're elephants' trunks, but they're
actually preserved whales' penises.
TIME FOR A PINT...
The monks of Strahov were known not only for their academic prowess, but also for
their ale - a brewery was built here in 1628. It closed in 1907 but was reopened in
best beers to thirsty visitors.
The corridor leads to the older but even more beautiful
Theology Hall
(Teolo-
giský sál; 1679). The low, curved ceiling is thickly encrusted in ornate baroque stuc-
cowork, and decorated with painted cartouches depicting the theme of 'True Wis-
dom', which was acquired, of course, through piety; one of the mottoes that adorns
the ceiling is 'initio sapientiae timor domini' ('the beginning of wisdom is the fear of
God').
On a stand outside the hall door is a facsimile of the library's most prized posses-
sion, the
Strahov Evangeliary
, a 9th-century codex in a gem-studded, 12th-cen-
tury binding. A nearby bookcase houses the
Xyloteka
(1825), a set of booklike
boxes, each one bound in the wood and bark of the tree it describes, with samples of
leaves, roots, flowers and fruits inside.
Strahov Picture Gallery
II.nádvoří; adult/child 60/30Kč; 9am-noon & 12.30-5pm; 22, 25)
, with a valuable col-
lection of Gothic, baroque, rococo and romantic art on the 1st floor and temporary ex-
hibits on the ground floor. Some of the medieval works are extraordinary - don't miss
