10 minute read
activities
KONOPIŠTĚ
Benešov Phone: +420 317 721 366 www.zamek-konopiste.cz
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MYSTERIOUS
ZNOJMO UNDERGROUND
Slepičí trh 2, Znojmo Phone: +420 515 221 342 podzemi@znojemskabeseda.cz www.znojemskabeseda.cz/podzemi
Znojmo Underground is one of the largest underground labyrinths in Central Europe, whose origins date back to the 14th century. There are no written records in the city chronicles about the exact date and purpose of their creation. The intricate underground network of tunnels still astonishes with ingeniously built ventilation shafts, flue gas ducts and wells. Since March 2009, the tour was expanded to include the exhibition „Mysterious Underground“, in which you will see an alchemical workshop, characters from urban legends, live rocks, bats, goblins, demonstrations of prison cells or skeletons in coffins. Head to the charming place near Prague, where a passionate hunter, Franz Ferdinand d‘Este, successor to the Austrian throne, lived. On guided tours you will see representative and guest rooms, a collection of weapons and hunting trophies, and even private rooms of Franz Ferdinand, which were created with the aim to maximize authenticity on the basis of archival materials, inventories of furniture and especially the imperial collection of photographs of photographer R. Bruner - Dvořák. A novelty since the last year has been a hunting route which connects the previous three tours and offers something extra - like a secret staircase in the tower.
ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK
Horní náměstí, 779 11, Olomouc Phone: +420 585 513 385
The Olomouc Astronomical Clock is situated in the northern facade of the Town Hall. It is set into a 14 m high pointed-arched recess. The present-day appearance of the Clock dates back to the 50s of the 20th Century and bears the traces of the former official aesthetic of socialist realism. The mosaic decoration of the Clock is made of various portrayals on the lateral sides of the recess depicting characteristic work for each month of the year. The author of the design, Karel Svolinský, introduced the folklore motif of the Ride of the Kings at the top of the recess. Figures representing the different working classes are depicted in the lower part of the mosaic decoration.
ST. APOLINAR
- NEO-GOTHIC GEM
When you come across this impressive building, you can‘t help feeling that this is what a real magic school would look like. But the Apolinar is doing a more meritorious thing - for decades it has been helping the people from Prague get to the world.
Neo-Gothic Provincial Maternity Hospital at St. Apolinare made of red gray bricks immediately transfers everyone to old England. The building was designed by the leading Czech architect Josef Hlávka, built between 1867 and 1970. At the time, it was the largest and most modern maternity hospital in Europe.
The building of the modern maternity hospital was created on impulse of Count František Thun-Hohenstein due to very poor hygienic conditions in the existing facilities in Prague. In 1863, the Provincial Committee entrusted the Kingdom of the Czech Builder Josef Hlávek to work out a project to build a new Provincial Maternity Hospital. Finally, he decided for a square plan with an inner rectangular courtyard in the middle, a four-winged core and eleven tracts that lead to different parts of the hospital and are interconnected by corridors.
The architecturally most interesting part of the building of the Land Maternity Hospital is the Chapel of St. Cross. It is located on the first floor, above the entrance hall. The space of the chapel is formed by a rich star cellar vault, which leads in the central column.
The building under the Church of St. Apolinare is one of the most famous in the republic. It is the original place of alcohol drunk tank. It was the very first drunk tank in the world and became a Czech export article, because it has proven itself good and was established in a similar way to the rest of the world.
Apolinářská 18, Prague 2 www.apolinar.cz
DISCOVER SCARIEST HAUNTED HOUSE IN PRAGUE
Provaznická11, Prague 1 Phone: +420 774 413 313 visit@ThrillParkPrague.com www.thrillparkprague.com A visit to Thrill Park - Prague‘s Horror Theme Park will get your adrenaline pumping and send chills down your spine at the same time. You can choose between descending into an underground dungeon where a crazy butcher lurks, entering the mind of a psychopath to solve a mystery or fighting your way out of a zombie apocalypse. The inviting, but creepy staff will set the scary mood right from beginning at the welcome meeting. Note that this experience is not for the fainthearted. Muzeum smyslů (The Museum of Senses) is home to an experience that will awaken your senses and inspire you to discover more and, therefore, to feel more. Live an unimaginable experience in a world of sensations and mind-blowing optical illusions and test your senses at an extraordinary museum. A place as fun as it is educational, as amazing as it is enigmatic, and as crazy as it is rational. Fun for the whole family.
THE MUSEUM OF SENSES
Jindřišská 20, Prague 1 Phone: +420 608 213 info.cz@museumofsenses.com www.muzeumsmyslu.cz
OLD TIMES MUSEUM
Valdštejnská 150/4, Prague 1 Phone: +420 723 960 308 kouzlostarychcasu@gmail.com www.kouzlostarychcasu.com
A unique private collection of Victorian and Edwardian clothes, accessories and curiosities, from the 1850’s to the 1920’s. Visitors can admire part of an extensive collection of historical attires, accouterments and novelties of the higher social classes, which documents the extraordinary craftsmanship of the previous generations.The unique collection, which has been collected spanning several decades, includes several hundred pieces of complete garments, clothes, textiles, as well as silver accessories from the Victorian and Edwardian periods, taken from all over the world. Part of this collection consists of Czech and German porcelain manufacturers leading up to 1930.
KARLŠTEJN CASTLE
Karlštejn Castle, a Gothic jewel southwest of Prague, was built in 1348 by Charles IV to preserve the precious crown jewels. At Karlštejn Castle, you can explore not only the Bohemian Crown Jewels and the collection of holy relics, but also experience your own Day at Karlštejn Castle.
Founded in 1348, Karlštejn Castle occupies a unique position among Czech castles. It was built by the Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place to store royal treasures, especially collections of holy relics and imperial crown jewels. In 1355, Charles IV was already staying at the castle, supervising its completion and the decoration of the interiors, especially the Castle chapels. The present-day appearance of the Castle was shaped by the purist reconstruction in the 19th century led by Josef Mocker. The first sightseeing tour (Imperial Residence of Charles IV) includes the Imperial Palace and the Treasury and the Treasury in the Marian Tower. The second tour (Karlštejn Castle Chapel) takes you to the Great Tower with the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross with panel paintings from the workshop of the master Theodoric. A tour of the Great Tower without the Chapel of the Holy Cross is also available. True connoisseurs of history and unforgettable experiences will appreciate the extraordinary tours of the Karlštejn Evening Chapel, Karlštejn Castle as a Closed Fortress or Coffee with the Castellan.
Apart from the architecture, visitors come here today to admire the replica of St. Wenceslas’ Crown. At the beginning of the Hussite wars, the Bohemian Crown Jewels were transported to Karlštejn Castle for security reasons, and they remained there with short breaks for almost 200 years. Karlštejn Castle also served as the subject of Jaroslav Vrchlický’s play Night at Karlštejn, which was the basis for the 1973 musical film of the same name. Since 1918, Karlštejn Castle has been owned by the Czech Republic and is open to the public.
www.hrad-karlstejn.cz
BAKERY CAVE
Údolí Říčky, Ochoz u Brna www-cavemk.cz National Natural Monument cave Bakery, which has been named after the shape of bread kiln, is located in the southern part of the Moravian Beauty and is made up of a 64 - metre - long corridor, which is almost entirely illuminated by daylight penetrating through a 23 - metre - wide and 6 - metre - high entrance portal. The cave Bakery is the most important reindeer hunter housing estate from around 12000 - 15000 years ago. If you go to the Bakery during the winter season, you can admire the icy decoration consisting not only of classic icicles, but mainly of icy‚ ‘dwarves‘‘ reaching sometimes almost a metrein height.
tips for trips
34 PRŮHONICE PARK
www.pruhonickypark.cz
Fairytale nature only a few kilometers from the border of the capital - this is the Průhonice Castle Park, in which a number of fairy tales were filmed. One of the largest nature parks in Europe with an area of 240 hectares is located in the rugged valley of the meandering Botič River. A park is an ideal place for relaxation and romantic walks. Make sure you come to Průhonice Park at the end of May when rhododendrons bloom. You can go to the park at any time of the year and you will always have something to watch. Apart from the artistic-historical significance, the park is also valuable dendrological, as a collection of domestic and exotic trees - about 1600 species. The collection of rhododendrons of around 8000 pieces in 100 species and cultivars are exceptional.
CHEB CASTLE
Dobrovského 21, 350 02 Cheb Phone: +420 602 169 298 www.hrad-cheb.cz
Cheb Castle, whose long history began to be written at the beginning of the 12th century, is a unique example of an imperial falcon built by the rulers of the Schauf dynasty and it is one of the most important Romanesque monuments of the Czech Republic. During your visit, you will find the Castle Palace, Black Tower, Chapel of. Erhard and Ursula, Kuchelhaus (aka Gordon‘s House), casemates (safe area against shelling), Mill Tower and castle courtyard. And also some of the mysterious legends that include alchemists, ghosts and a bloody feast!
CLAM-GALLAS PALACE
The massive building of the Clam-Gallas Palace in Husova Street in Prague’s Old Town lies at the crossroads of the important medieval link between Prague Castle and the centre of the Old Town, also called the Royal Route, and the ancient road leading to Vyšehrad.
The intersection of Charles and Hus Streets is reached by the southern part of the facade of the Clam-Gallas Palace, one of the most important Baroque palace buildings in Prague. It is a magnificent example of a monumental aristocratic residence situated in a small medieval-type urban development. The palace was built in the High Baroque style on the site of an older building in 1714-18 according to a design by J. B. Fischer of Erlach for Jan Václav Count Gallas. Among others, M. B. Braun and his workshop contributed to the decoration of the building (portals with atlants, statues of ancient gods in the roof part, cherubs inside and vases on the staircase), the painter C. Carlone, stonemason D. A. Rappa and the plasterers R. Bolla, S. Bussi and G. Fiumberti. Both the Gallas and the Clam-Gallas family, the owners of the Palace, were lovers and patrons of the arts; their Palace was thus a famous cultural centre in Prague, where concerts were held – W. A. Mozart (1787) and L. van Beethoven (1796) performed here, theatre was performed here and exhibitions of paintings were held. In a niche of the Palace‘s enclosure wall on Mariánské Square there is a fountain with an allegorical sculpture of the Vltava River by V. Prachner. The northern wing of the palace was raised by one storey to accommodate the anticipated construction of a theatre hall. However, this certainly interesting plan was eventually abandoned and the resulting under-roof space was then used as a hayloft.
