From the west side to the Prague Degree Hradčany adjoins - a rich, noble district of Prague, which, however, was intended, at the base, in 1320 for the settlement of the palace servants - grooms, cooks, scribes and servants. After the fire of 1541, which destroyed the crappy, poor houses, the nobility chose these places for erecting their palaces and mansions and the district has since been considered a prestigious place to live.

View of Hradčany

Archbishop's Palace

The Golden Lane in Hradcany

Attractions Hradčany

The Loreto Monastery is the most remarkable monastery in Prague and a popular pilgrimage site for Catholics from all over the world. The architect of the "hut" was an Italian who knew the "original", so the Prague Loreta relatively accurately reproduces the Italian construction. In the marble hut-chapel (consecrated in 1631) fragments of frescoes of the 17th century, reproducing scenes from Jesus' childhood, and a silver altar were preserved.

The Church of the Nativity of Christ (1730s) - the main temple of the monastery, strikes with a fresco painting and a magnificent organ .The musical bells of the end of the 17th century established at the bell tower .still delight the ear with a melodious ringing .On the territory you should also see an ancient well, baroque fountains and a gallery surrounding the courtyard, on the second floor there is a monastery treasury .It exhibits the famous monstrance (1699), otherwise known as the "Prague Sun" .This jewelry miracle is made of gold and silver, decorated with 6222 diamonds and weighs 12 kg .

The Old Town Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Hradcany, whose narrow façade is decorated with paintings.

The church of St. Benedict (XIV century) belongs to the monastery of the Carmelites and you can visit it only during the hours of the morning service. The main shrine - the mummy of the founder of the monastery of Mary-Elektra - is kept near the main altar.

The church of Jan Nepomuk (1729) was built in baroque style for the monastery of Ursulines. Behind it is the oldest in the Czech Republic Capuchin Monastery (1600-1602). In the courtyard of the monastery worked as a court astronomer and astrologer Tycho Brahe in his observatory, and in the church the organ where Mozart played was kept.

Strahov Monastery - one of the oldest and largest monasteries in the Czech Republic, has been rebuilt many times, baroque buildings have survived to this day. The main attraction is the library with manuscripts of the 11th century. and first-printed books (altogether about 130,000 books). Widely known and received a picture gallery of the monastery (Strahovská obrazárna), which has at its disposal more than 1000 canvases. From the observation platform at the eastern walls of the monastery a wonderful view opens up to Vltava and Mala Strana.

Palaces in Hradcany

• Archbishop's Palace (1538), rebuilt in the XVIII century. rococo. In the second floor. XVI century. here was the residence of Prague archbishops, recalls the archbishop's coat of arms decorating the facade of the palace.
• Sternberg Palace (1770), which now houses the National Gallery. In the halls of the palace you can admire works of art from antiquity to the XVIII century. - works by Brueghel, Durer, El Greco, Goya, Murillo, Rubens, Rembrandt, etc.
• The Martin's palace (XVI century) was rebuilt in the middle of the XVII century. A distinctive feature of the building in decorating the walls with paintings on biblical subjects, made in the sgraffito technique.

• The Tuscan Palace (1691), which now houses the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until 1918 belonged to the Dukes of Tuscany. The facade is adorned with the ducal emblem and the statues of the seven free arts.
• The Schwarzenberg Palace (1545-1677), built by the order of the rich Schwarzenberg family, is also decorated with paintings in the sgraffito technique. Today the building of the palace is occupied by the Military History Museum.
• The Cherninsky Palace (the beginning of construction of 1667) is an imposing structure, the customer of which, Count Chernin, dreamed of amazing contemporaries with a building comparable in beauty with the Venetian palazzo, but died without waiting for the completion of the work.

After seeing all the palaces and churches that are rich in Hradcany, pleasure will take a leisurely walk along the tiny street Novi Svět, chosen at the end of the 19th century. representatives of Bohemia and considered at the time "Prague Montmartre". The memorial plaque on House No. 1 reports that Tycho Brahe, the royal astronomer, lived here.

Author - Gulshat Zakirova

Tuscan Palace

Schwarzenberg Palace

Prague Loreta

Watch Prague's Loreta

Martin's Palace

Chernitsky Palace

Change of guard, Hradcany

Reviews of Hradcany (4)

Evaluation 10

Palace District of Prague April 14, 2014

Olya

was here in January 2013

Our tour of Hradcany started from Strahov Monastery, which is considered to be one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. Further along the way, we got to the Loreto Square, where the Church of the Nativity of the Lord is located. Every hour on the clock tower of Loreta the bells ring, and so skillfully that it seems as though the orchestra is playing. I recorded this melody and now every morning I wake up to the melodic chime. Moving along this historic district, it catches your eye, it's that the palaces are instead of houses. Their very ... Read the full review

Evaluation 10

Journey through the magnificent district of Gradchany February 19, 2014

Eleonora

was here in January 2014

If you come to Prague for cultural and cognitive purposes, then for sure the program of your visit will include visiting such a famous district of the city as Gradchany. It is one of the 4 main districts of the city, on the territory of which there are a lot of attractions. Many of them date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, for example, here you will see the Hradcany Town Hall, the Schwarzenberg Palace, the Martinique Palace and others. Now they contain expositions of various museums, the entrance to each of them is ... Read full review

Evaluation 9

Worth seeing yourself November 21, 2013

Alliry

was here in July 2012

One of the historic districts of Prague, Hradcany is an excellent ensemble of palaces, temples and hotels located in old buildings. Guides, talking about Hradčany, stop almost at each house - there lived craftsmen who served the castle complex of Prague Castle, somewhere there was a Town Hall decorated with coats of arms, and some building was glorified by the brave Švejk. In the central square of Hradcany, very near the Prague Castle, each house is a real palace with its centuries-old ... Read the whole review

Evaluation 10

Hradcany - palaces instead of poor houses November 06, 2013

Vitalina

was here in June 2012

On inspection Hradčany, we left about half a day, and it's running and in a hurry. But I do not regret that I received the first impression of this district of Prague with an excursion. First, I listened to history and entertaining facts, and secondly, I would simply get lost myself. The territory of Hradcany is very large, each building is a tourist attraction, with its legends and zest.
I remember that at one gate there is still a standard for measuring tissue. Since they measured elbows, and they are all different, buyers ... Read the whole review