Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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9.30am-noon & 2-4pm
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Náměstí Republiky
FRANZ KAFKA MONUMENT
(cnr Vězeňská & Dušní; Staroměstská)
Jaroslav Róna's unusual sculpture of a mini-
Franz sitting piggyback on his own headless body was unveiled in 2003. Commis-
sioned by Prague's Franz Kafka Society, it stands beside the Spanish Synagogue.
MONUMENT
SSQUARE
ARE
JAN PALACH SQUARE
(náměstí Jana Palacha; 17, 18)
Jan Palach Square is named after the young Charles
University student who in January 1969 set himself alight in Wenceslas Square in
protest against the Soviet invasion. On the eastern side of the square, beside the en-
trance to the philosophy faculty building where Palach was a student, is a bronze me-
morial plaque with a ghostly death mask.
HIST
HISTORIC B
ORIC BUILDING
UILDING
RUDOLFINUM
over Jan Palach Square is the Rudolfinum, home to the Czech Philharmonic Orches-
tra. This and the National Theatre, both designed by architects Josef Schulz and Josef
Zítek, are considered Prague's finest neo-Renaissance buildings. Completed in 1884,
the Rudolfinum served between the wars as the seat of the Czechoslovak parliament,
and during WWII as the administrative offices of the occupying Nazis.
The impressive
Dvořák Hall
, its stage dominated by a vast organ, is one of the
of the complex (entrance facing the river) houses the Galerie Rudolfinum. There's
also a sumptuous
cafe
with tables ranged amid the Corinthian splendour of the
Column Hall.
GALLER
ALLERY
GALERIE RUDOLFINUM
combined admission with Museum of Decorative Arts 180/100Kč; 10am-6pm Tue, Wed & Fri-
Sun, to 8pm Thu; 17,18)
Housed in the Rudolfi num complex of concert halls, this gal-
lery specialises in changing exhibitions of contemporary art.
