Miraculously unscathed by two world wars, Prague is an enormous open-air museum of European architecture, with superb examples of Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque and Art Nouveau styles all crowded into one fairytale space.  But the city’s quirkiest building may be the Modernist, box-like edifice that can be found in the heart of the Old Town, in a laneway called Ovocný trh – the world’s first Cubist building, an avant-garde creation from the early 20th century called the House of the Black Madonna.

Designed by artist Josef Gočár, the House was regarded as shockingly modern, even revolutionary, when it first opened as a department store in 1912 – and it still seems so in Prague today.  For the last 10 years, it has been the home of the Museum of Czech Cubism, which is dedicated to the artistic movement that was embraced by Prague’s intellectuals and extended to all forms of the visual arts – including interior design, architecture, graphic design and photography.

The House itself, of course, is the prime exhibit: Its façade, which looks smooth from a distance, is actually fractured through the inventive use of oblique planes.  Large bay windows protrude in the manner of giant quartz crystals.  (The House’s poetic name comes from a 17th century statue of the Black Madonna and child, which was rescued from the previous house on the site, and is still poised like a figurehead on one corner).  The museum inside is suffused with nostalgia: In its heyday, from 1912 to 1916, Cubism was hailed as a distinctively Czech artistic movement, and it is remembered today as an emblem of a golden age, when Prague was one of the wealthiest cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its citizens enjoyed a creative renaissance.  After the museum, visit the Cubist gift store (Cubist lounge chairs, anyone?) and the world’s only Cubist eatery, the Grand Café Orient, which was a bohemian artist’s hangout before the First World War.  As you sip your coffee, waiters might quip that it was near Prague in 1843 that a certain Czech genius, Jakub Krystof Rad, invented the sugar cube.  Cubism, it seems, was always in the Czech blood.

When you take a vacation to the Czech Republic, make sure to pause and take a few minutes to take in the sights that surround you in Prague.

Every hour, hundreds of visitors gather in Prague’s classic Old Town Square to witness the tolling of the Astronomical Clock, when a sinister medieval figure of Death emerges to pull the bell cord.  It seems appropriate that the first doorway to the left of this haunted edifice is the Hause Minuta, or House of the Minute, the childhood home of Prague’s most famous literary son, Franz Kafka. In his short life, from 1889-1924, he wrote some of our most gripping tales of paranoia and alienation, including The Trial (where a man is caught up in an mind-boggling legal system for an offense that is never named) and Metamorphosis (where a man wakes up in bed one morning and finds he has turned into a cockroach).

This splendid Renaissance-era house, with its elegant black-and-white painted façade, is where the writer spent the first seven years of his life, and where his nightmarish imagination developed.  The eldest child of a middle class, German-speaking Jewish family, he was tormented, according to his own account, by his father, “a huge, selfish, overbearing businessman,” who became a model for the menacing authority figures that tread through his fiction.  Young Franz moved with his family to several other apartments in Prague (one is now the US Embassy building), and developed a love-hate relationship with his home city: He tried to live in Germany and Vienna, but was always drawn back by the eerie beauty of Prague.  And although Kafka does not name the city’s monuments in any of his fiction, the winding alleyways of the Old Town, its shadowy plazas and looming castle, provide their distinctive atmosphere.

Kafka died here at age 35 or tuberculosis and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery; most of his work was published posthumously, to huge acclaim.  Today, improbably enough, his gaunt portrait is reproduced all over Prague on souvenirs, T-shirts, coffee mugs and key chains.  But maybe he wouldn’t have disapproved entirely.  Kafka also had a highly developed sense of black humor, and a Czech ability to laugh at the ironies of life.

Continuing our post from Friday, here are a few more Prague must-see sights to make your vacation to the Czech Republic more memorable.

Prague Specialties
Local dishes to try include beef sirloin with cream sauce and dumplings, baked pork/duck/goose with red or white cabbage and dumplings, as well as Czech beer and the special herbal liquor Becherovka.

Hussite Sites
A walking route possibility is Hussite Prague—sites relating to the Hussite wars of the 15th century.

World Heritage Site
Prague’s city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ask your Local Host about visiting its many monuments.

When traveling to the Czech Republic here are some of the must-see sights of Prague:

Old Town
One of the best ways to see the palaces and churches of the Old Town is a stroll through the medieval streets. The Old Town Square dates back to the 10th century. Ask about a walking route.

Strahov Monastery and Library
Before the Age of Enlightenment, monasteries carefully guarded their treasures. Now visitors are free to stroll the halls and marvel at the contributions of history’s greatest minds. Catch the breathtaking view of the city from the monastery garden.

U Mecenase
Built in the 16th century, see this lovely old wine cellar.

Check back on Tuesday for Part #2 of our Prague, Czech Republic not-to-be-missed sights. Start planning your European vacation today!

Any vacation to Prague is filled with views of steeples stacked on onion domes.  The architecture of the Czech Republic has earned Prague the name “The City of a Hundred Spires.”

Armed with knowledge from our recent series on travel tips, you are prepared to pack your bags for an Eastern European vacation as we travel to the Czech Republic.

Join us over the next couple weeks as we explore Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.  Over the course of our series we will witness the tolling of the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square, see the world’s first Cubist building and discover some of the city’s hidden gems and must-see-sights. So sit back and enjoy your tour of the 1,000 year old Hradcany Castle, Prague’s Jewish Quarter & Charles Bridge.

Known for its rich collection of Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance buildings, as well as a charming Bohemian atmosphere, your vacation in the golden city of Prague is sure to be memorable.

The Prague Jazz Boat

The Prague Jazz Boat glides along the Vltava River, affording wonderful views of Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and many other famous Prague sights. Along the way, a celebrated live band takes you through several different blends of Jazz music.

Pruhonice

15 minutes by metroand 20 minutes by bus from central Prague, this attractive village offers an unusual parcel of adorable restaurants, shops and other charming odds and ends. But perhaps Pruhonice’s most noteworthy feature is a 250-hectare (618-acre) landscaped park lush with exotic gardens considered the best in the Czech Republic. Read the rest of this entry »