DISTANCE: 2.5km (1.5 miles)
TIME: 2 hours
START: National Museum
END: Museum of Communism
POINTS TO NOTE: The nearest metro station to this route’s starting point is Muzeum, at the intersection of lines A and C.
Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) is actually more of a broad boulevard than an open square. Sloping down for almost half a mile at the heart of Nové Město (New Town), its wide pedestrian zones follow the course of the fortifications that surrounded the city in the Middle Ages, before Charles IV erected the New Town in a semicircle around the old.
Wenceslas Square slopes down from the National Museum
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History of the square
Although the square was originally used as a horse market, it eventually became the setting for much grander events. All Prague’s historic uprisings – from the Reformationist Hussite Rebellion in the early 15th century to the nationalist riots in 1848 to the remarkably peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989 – have focused on the square.
In 1918, crowds assembled here for the proclamation of independence for Czechoslovakia. Then, in March 1939, the Nazis took that independence away again and celebrated their bloodless conquest with a military parade here. In 1968, Soviet tanks rolled into the square to crush the Prague Spring and with it, Alexander Dubček’s aspirations for ‘socialism with a human face’. Finally, in 1989 the square was the rallying point for the series of demonstrations that led to the Velvet Revolution and the country’s independence.
The square today
Since those heady days, however, the square has lost some of its lustre. Fast-food chains, casinos, strip clubs, sausage stalls and parked cars have set the tone. But the city authorities are waking up to the need for renewal. Green spaces and pedestrian zones have been reintegrated with the square and traffic re-routed to a city ring road. High-end stores now blend with tacky souvenir shops and the notorious sausage stalls littering the square are making way for flower stands. Wenceslas Square is set to get an even bigger facelift, though exactly when is a point of contention.
Wenceslas Square at dusk
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National Museum
The route begins at the southern end of the square, in front of the old National Museum 1 [map] (Národní muzeum; www.nm.cz). Constructed in 1890 to designs by Josef Schulz, this neo-Renaissance palace is currently closed for renovations that will double the exhibition space inside. It is due to reopen in the summer of 2018.
In front of the museum, look out for two small mounds in the cobbled pavement. These mark the place where a Czech student named Jan Palach set himself on fire in January 1969 in protest against Soviet oppression. A month later, another student, Jan Zajíc, did the same.
Just to the east of the old National Museum, along Wilsonova (named after President Wilson, who, after World War I, championed the principle of self-determination that led to the independence of Czechoslovakia) is the old Stock Exchange building (Vinohradská 1). This was transformed into a glass structure to house the Federal Assembly between 1966 and 1972, and subsequently housed Radio Free Europe, broadcasting US propaganda to Muslim Fundamentalist audiences. Since 2009 it has been taken over by the National Museum and now houses the New Building (Nová budova; www.nm.cz; daily 10am–6pm), host to temporary exhibitions.
State Opera House
Just beyond it is the State Opera House 2 [map] (Státní Opera; www.narodni-divadlo.cz; closed for restoration until September 2018; for more information, click here), built in 1888 and renowned for having one of the most beautiful auditoriums in Central Europe. Among the famous conductors and singers to have worked here are Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Nellie Melba and Benjamino Gigli. The theatre’s reputation was greatly enhanced under the stewardships of Alexander Zemlinksy (1911–27) and Georg Szell (1927–38), who staged works by their contemporaries, Krenek, Hindemith and Schreker.
Beyond the opera house is the city’s main railway station (Hlavní nádraží), with an Art Nouveau structure and Communist-era additions.
A performance at the State Opera
Isifa Image Service sro/REX/Shutterstock
Statue of St Wenceslas
Back on Wenceslas Square, in front of the old National Museum, is the equestrian Statue of St Wenceslas 3 [map] by Josef Myslbek, erected in this commanding position in 1912 after 30 years of planning and design. The base, designed by Alois Dryák, depicts saints Agnes, Adelbert, Procopius and Ludmila (Wenceslas’s grandmother). It was from here that Alois Jirásek read the proclamation of Czechoslovakian independence to the assembled crowds on 28 October 1918. A less happy event, though, is memorialised a little way down from the statue, in the form of a headstone featuring the images of student martyrs Palach and Zajíc.
King Wenceslas on his upside-down horse
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Nuclear Fallout Bunker
Continue the walk along the right-hand side of the square and you will soon arrive at the Jalta Hotel (No 45; www.hoteljalta.com), which from the 1950s harboured a big secret: hidden under the hotel is a communist-era nuclear bunker. Built to hold 150 people, it has massive reinforced walls to provide shelter for prominent officials and distinguished officers for as long as two months if war broke out. The Ministry of Defence owned the bunker until it was declassified in 1997. Now the property of the hotel, tours (booked in advance) are available, led by a guide in a period security police uniform − highlights include the comms room, where wiretaps in the bedrooms of important guests were monitored.
Art Nouveau Architecture
A bit further on is the magnificent Hotel Evropa 4 [map] , at Nos 25–7. This grand Art Nouveau establishment is the result of architect Alois Dryák’s makeover of the building in 1905 (with the assistance of architectural sculptor Ladislav Šaloun).
Melantrich Building
Make a pit-stop at the converted tram café, Café Tramvaj 11, see 1, on the central reservation before crossing to the other side of the square and the Melantrich Building 5 [map] (Nakladatelství Melantrich; built 1914) at No. 36. It was on the balcony here on 24 November 1989 that Alexander Dubček and Václav Havel appeared together before a crowd of 300,000 people in a pivotal event of the Velvet Revolution. The building is now occupied by Marks & Spencer. Just nearby, at No. 34, is the Wiehl House, built in 1896 to designs by Antonín Wiehl. Its extravagant facade is decorated with neo-Renaissance murals by Czech artist Mikuláš Aleš and others.
Lucerna Palace shopping arcade
Tucked away behind, in the block between Štěpánská and Vodičkova, is the labyrinthine Lucerna Palace (Palác Lucerna) shopping arcade. This Art Nouveau complex harbours the gorgeous Lucerna cinema (operating since 1909) as well as a grand concert hall and several cafés – including the Lucerna, see 2. Hanging from the ceiling of the atrium by the cinema is David Černy’s amusing sculpture of King Wenceslas on his upside-down horse, a satire on the monumental version in the square outside.
Aficionados of Art Nouveau and in particular the work of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, should take a detour to the Muchovo museum (www.mucha.cz; daily 10am−6pm), on Panská parallel with Wenceslas Square.
Modernist Architecture
Out in the fresh air again, continue your walk down the square, passing Ludvík Kysela’s Alfa Palace at No. 28 and Pavel Janák’s Hotel Juliš at No. 22 – both 1920s Modernist affairs. At No. 12 is a brief Art Nouveau diversion, the Peterka House, built to Jan Kotěra’s designs in 1899–1900. At No. 6 is the 1929 Functionalist building designed by Ludvík Kysela for Tomáš Bat’a, art patron, progressive industrialist and founder of the shoe empire.
Our Lady of the Snows
When you come to Kysela’s Palác Astra (former Lindt Building) at No. 4, turn left into the passageway through the middle to emerge on the other side in Jungmannovo náměstí. Look out for the memorial to Josef Jungmann (1773–1847), who revived the Czech language. On your left, outside the gate of the Franciscan rectory, is a Cubist lamppost, designed by Emil Králíček in 1913. Behind this is the Church of Our Lady of the Snows 6 [map] (Kostel Panny Marie Sněžné; www.pms.ofm.cz; daily 9am–5.30pm; free), which can be accessed via a gateway around the corner.
History
Completed in 1347, the church was planned as a coronation church by Charles IV. The designs envisaged a three-aisled Gothic cathedral church and the tallest building in Prague. However, shortage of money and the start of the Hussite Wars meant the plans were never fulfilled. In fact, it was from here that the radical Hussites marched to the New Town Hall in 1419 in order to teach the city’s officials a lesson, in one of Prague’s infamous defenestrations (for more information, click here).
Our Lady of the Snows
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The interior
Today, all that can be seen of Charles IV’s grand plan is the out-of-proportion chancel with its extravagant black-and-gold Baroque altarpiece. The painting on the altar (by an unknown Italian artist) depicts the legend of Our Lady of the Snows. In the 4th century AD, the Virgin Mary appeared in a Roman merchant’s dream and told him to build a temple on the place where snow would be found the following morning. When he woke up the next morning, the merchant was confused, since it was the middle of summer. Even so, he went out and found that the Esquiline hill was covered in snow. Following the request, he had the Church of St Maria Maggiore built on the site.
If you are ready for lunch at this point, Lahůdky Zlatý Kříž is a fine Czech delicatessen just round the corner on Jungmannova, see 3.
Koruna Shopping Arcade
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Shopping
After lunch, retrace your steps to Wenceslas Square, cross over, and at the other corner you will find the monumental Koruna Palace Shopping Centre 7 [map] (Palác Koruna). Built in 1914 to designs by Antonín Pfeiffer and Matěj Blecha, it shows early hints of Modernism.
Outside again, the street that runs perpendicular to Wenceslas Square is Na Příkopě (‘On the Moat’); it was originally built on top of a river (filled in in 1760) that separated the walls of Staré Město and Nové Město. Now an up-market shopping street, it follows the line of the old fortifications all the way down to the Gothic Powder Tower at náměstí Republiky (for more information, click here).
At No.10 Na Příkopě is the Museum of Communism (Muzeum Komunismu; www.muzeumkomunismu.cz; daily 9am–9pm) devoted to the Communist era (1948–89). Exhibits include propaganda posters, a mock-up of a class-room of the era, and a sinister interrogation room.
The walk ends here. And if you wish to catch the metro, backtrack to take the escalators down to Můstek Station, at the intersection of lines A and B. ‘Můstek’ means ‘little bridge’, and as you descend you will see illuminated the stone remains of what was once a bridge that connected the fortifications of Prague’s Old and New Towns. When workers were building the station a few decades ago, they had to be inoculated against the tuberculosis bacteria uncovered by their excavations. The bacteria had lain here dormant, encased in horse manure, since the Middle Ages.
Wenceslas
While famous elsewhere as the ‘Good King Wenceslas’ of the Christmas carol, to the Czechs Wenceslas was not a king at all, but the Duke of Bohemia and their country’s patron saint. He lived c.907–35 and was brought up as a Christian by his grandmother, St Ludmila, before taking the reins of state, founding the Church of St Vitus (now the cathedral) and then being murdered on the orders of his younger brother while on his way to church. His feast day is 28 September, and, since the year 2000, this day has been celebrated as a national holiday.
Food and Drink
1 Café Tramvaj 11
Václavské náměstí 32; daily 9am–midnight, from 10am Sun; €€€
If you don’t mind paying a bit more for a coffee or light bite to get away from the usual chains, these two converted historic trams placed in the middle of the square offer a delightful atmospheric setting. Seating inside or outside.
2 Kavárna Lucerna
Vodičkova 36 (pasáž U Novákû); tel: 224 215 495; daily 10am–midnight; €
This stylish café is a welcome spot to hang out over a cup of coffee, glass of wine or snack while taking in the architectural charms of the Art Nouveau passage where it resides. Live music on the weekends.
3 Lahůdky Zlatý Kříž
Jungmannova 34; tel: 222 519 451; www.lahudkyzlatykriz.cz; Mon–Fri 6.30am–7pm, Sat 9am–3pm; €
Follow the stream of locals from the square to this nondescript shop on a side street. Inside, behold a delicatessen classic where you are served from refrigerated counters rammed full of typical Czech snack food. Bread is loaded up with ham or salami or maybe smoked salmon, with a dollop or two of cream cheese or potato salad on top, and maybe a gherkin garnish or a little caviar.