The Art of Prague

Colourful houses in Prague
Cobbled streets leading to bridges and castles, and marvellous baroque architecture easily makes this capital city one of the most romantic cities in Europe.

Where to stay in Prague

Along with my friend Harriet, we checked into our very lovely hotel, the Lindner Prague Castle, which is without surprise, very near to Prague Castle. It had everything we could wish for and most importantly, is within walking distance to all the main attractions.

Lindner Hotel Prague Castle

Inside Linder Hotel Prague Castle – isn’t it pretty?! (sorry about the mess!)

Prague Castle

Prague Castle is a vast cultural complex dating back to the 800s that includes St. Vitus Cathedral, Basilica of St. George, a monastery and several palaces, gardens and defense towers. 

The castle also houses several museums, including the National Gallery collection of Bohemian baroque and mannerism art, exhibition dedicated to Czech history, Toy Museum and the picture gallery of Prague Castle, based on the collection of Rudolph II. You can skip the queue and purchase tickets to Prague Castle here.

St Vitus Cathedral in Prague

St Vitus Cathedral is a magnificent feast of Gothic architecture that displays some of the finest examples of stained glass windows in Europe.

st-vitus-cathedral-interior-prague

Art museums & public sculptures

If you love art, Prague is a perfect place to discover it. Although difficult to compete with its European counterparts – London, Paris and Berlin, it is still a leading capital for art, especially by drawing attention to lesser known artists in the Artbanka Museum of Young Art.

David Cerny at Artbanka

An installation entitled ‘Guns’ by Czech artist David Cerny at the Artbanka

For bigger names head to the National Gallery to view glorious works by Gustav Klimt and his protége, Egon Shiele.

Further reading: An Art Lover’s Guide to Prague: Museums, Architecture & Street Art

Sculpture of Franz Kafka in Prague by David Cerny

The eleven-metre-high David Černý statue is a 21st-century technical marvel of Prague. Forty-two moving panels form the face of the great Czech writer Franz Kafka. To get the complete Metamorphosis, you need to wait for the right alignment of the panels. It’s very hypnotic and appears to dazzling in any whether!

For literary lovers

Born in Prague, the city is synonymous with Franz Kafka, the writer behind such novels The Castle and The Trial and perhaps the most famous novella ever written, The Metamorphosis. If you haven’t read the latter, the opening line goes, “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect”. I think it’s one of the best opening lines ever penned. The Metamorphosis became the topic of my undergrad dissertation so I hold it close to my heart.

You can learn more about his life and work at the Franz Kafka Museum. You will get the chance to see to letters, diaries, photographs of the young writer before he passed way in 1924.

Other highlights

With one of the many musicians you will find on the famous Charles Bridge
War memorial in Petrin Park
Inside the main square

Prague

Harriet enjoying panoramic views of the city from the Prague Castle.

From any direction, with its colourful buildings painted in shades of blue, pink, green and yellow pastel and highly detailed structures, you are certain to find beauty on any corner.

Prague is a city for romantics.

Further reading: How to Spend 3 or 4 days in Prague – Perfect Itinerary

Have you been to Prague? 

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Hi, I'm Shing

Welcome to The Culture Map, a place where I share my travel guides, adventurous tales, and capture the inspiring diversity of our world.

8 Responses

    1. Haha yes, and I saw that you highlighted it in your commentary of Prague! The “peeing men”, and the statue of a boy with a golden phallus inside the grounds of Prague Castle, and the sex museum makes Prague a rather kinky city to explore!

    1. I imagine you must love Prague’s medieval architecture! – Do you study a lot of architecture on your course? In the same way it inspires you, it inspires me for it’s attachment to Franz Kafka – I’m so in love with his work and imagination!

    1. Hello Jenna! Prague is a true beauty isn’t it? I would love to go back and visit all the places I didn’t, and see the city in different seasons to see how it’s beauty alters (I imagine it would still look magnificent on wintery days – wrapped up in gloom and Gothic). Thank you for commenting 🙂

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