The exposition can be found in Old Royal Palace, on its gothical floor. You can get there from the 3rd Courtyard or from St. George's Square. www.hrad.cz
CONTACT DETAILS
Pražský hrad - III. nádvoří
Praha 1 - Hradčany
tel.: 224 373 102
tel2.: 224 371 111
web: http://www.pribeh-hradu.cz
web: http://www.hrad.cz
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
April - October 9 - 17 daily
November - March 9 - 16 daily
Nearest public transport station:
Pražský hrad DESCRIPTION Prague Castle - the third courtyard
It is a composite building complex representing the historical royal residence in several stages
The Romanic underground area is the oldest part of the palace. There are four premises of Soběslav’s Romanic palace built after 1135 at the level of the second basement: - former passage way through the Southern spired gate, which used to be a part of the castle’s fortifications, - remains of rampart fortifications, - former ground floor of the palace with a barrel-vaulted hall and small windows, - bottom floor of the Romanic Chapel of All Saints.
The Gothic floor (1st basement of the current palace) includes the following premises: - arcades from the era of Charles IV, walled up during the reign of Václav IV, three of them were revealed after 1930
- The room of Old Municipal Files from the era of Přemysl Otakar II, the heavy vault of which leans against two low barrel columns. The room was used as a deposit for property records of the nobility and for resolutions of the municipal court (the documents burned during the 1541 fire of the Castle). - Charles’ Hall with additionally built in vault. There are mighty pillars traversing through the premises, carrying the vault of Vladislav’s Hall (Vladislavský sál), built above the Charles’ Hall.
- Old Register Office for the bills of the Bohemian Chamber. From here, a passage leads to - Column Hall of Václav IV from around 1400, the most remarkable Gothic room, originally used as a residence. Its large windows complemented by seats originally overlooked the 3rd courtyard, which, however, is much higher today, so it is possible to enter the archaeological excavations under the courtyard from one of the windows.
- The Room of Royal Files is accessible from the Column Hall. It was used as a depository of the Royal Files (resolutions of the Royal Court). There is already a Renaissance vault in the room. Since the 6th April 2004, a new permanent exposition has been installed on the Gothic floor named The Story of Prague Castle. The main part of the exposition represents history, events, personalities, arts and crafts of the castle premises from pre-history until present days. This route takes up the premises of the Gothic floor in the Old Royal Palace, and the installed models show Prague Castle in the respective development stages and are completed by small extraordinary items (oldest, most precious etc.). The timeline of the exhibition is followed by smaller exhibitions connected by one theme - the actual Stories (The story of Bohemian patrons, The story of the Church and the cathedral, the Story of burials, the Story of the residence, The story of the dining, The story of education, The story of catastrophes). The exhibition is complemented by a programme for children named “Castle Game” and different interactive programmes.
The representative floor of the Old Royal Palace consists of the following premises: - Vestibule and the Green Room originally with a Gothic vault. The Green Room used to be a place for sessions of lesser courts, and of the Royal and the Chamber Court after 1512. It is decorated with emblems of the Chamber Court officials from the 18th century. On the walls, there are preserved fragments of the municipal emblems. On the ceiling, there is a Baroque fresco transferred to this room from the Supreme Burgrave’s House (Nejvyšší purkrabství) in 1963. - Vladislav’s Small Audience Chamber from an era before 1490 with decorative late-Gothic vault and municipal emblems on the bosses. The walls are decorated by the emblems of the kingdom’s supreme hofmeisters from the 16th century. - Vladislav’s Hall, built in the years 1492 - 1502 by Vladislav of Jagiellon according to a project of Benedikt Ried. It was the largest profane space in medieval Prague with the proportions of 62 x 16 x 13 metres. The most remarkable features are the net vault of a stellar type and the windows more than 5 m high in both the Southern and the Northern wall, which are on of the first documents of Renaissance in our territory. Wooden floor probably dates back to 1791 and out of five chandeliers, three are originals made of tin, dating back to the 16th century. Knights’ tournaments used to be held in the Hall, as well as balls, assemblies, court sessions, bazaars, banquets, etc. The knights on horses coming for the tournaments would enter via a Riders’ staircase. Today the presidential elections and festive state events are held in the Hall.
