Prague Travel: Municipal
House – Prague’s Art Nouveau Masterpiece
& a Boat Tour on the Vltava River
After an introduction to kosher food and after sampling
some Krupnik and Gefilte Fish, I thanked Michal
Günsberger for his culinary education and for
his hospitality at the King Solomon Restaurant.
Richard, my tour guide, who had already taken me
on a tour through Prague’s Jewish Quarter
in the morning, kindly offered to accompany me through
Old Town past a number of Prague’s landmarks.
The Powder Gate, whose foundation stone was laid
in 1475, used to be one of Prague’s city gates
in the Middle Ages and became part of the Royal
Coronation Route to Prague Castle. This medieval
tower was indeed used to store gunpowder in the
17th century.
Prague's Powder Gate
The east side of the Powder Tower opens up to a
big public space called Republic Square which is
home to the Czech National Bank and the famous Hybernia
Theatre. The most impressive jewel on Republic Square
is the Municipal House, Prague’s most spectacular
Art Nouveau building and a national landmark.
Municipal House, Prague's Art Nouveau masterpiece
Municipal House was constructed between 1905 and
1912 on the site of the former Royal Court palace,
which used to be the residence of the Czech kings
in the 14th and 15th century, This palace stood
abandoned for centuries, and was later turned into
a seminary and a military hospital. Finally, in
the early 1900s, the decision was made to demolish
it and to build the stunning Art Nouveau masterpiece
that still stands today.
Detailed fresco on the front facade of Municipal
House
The exterior of Municipal House impresses with
its detailed stone carvings, gold trimmings and
stained glass windows. Magnificent frescos adorn
the façade, and allegorical figures represent
historical and cultural symbols of the Czech nation.
A huge semi-circular mosaic called Homage to
Prague embellishes the central entrance area
of this magnificent structure.
Smetana Hall
I joined the 2 o’clock guided tour and our
young guide explained the various interior details
of this structure. The most impressive space is
Smetana Hall, a concert hall holding 1200 seats
that is named after Bedrich Smetana, a famous Czech
composer of the late 1800s who pioneered a nationalistic
musical style that coincided with the Czech country’s
desire for independence from the Habsburg Empire.
An impressive glass dome covers Smetana Hall and
floods this performance venue with natural light.
The famous composer, Bedrich Smetana
Our guide took us through a variety of smaller
meeting rooms, many of which were featuring authentic
early 1900s furniture. Every room was copiously
adorned with Art Nouveau details and many of the
meeting rooms also featured painted ceilings.
Gorgeous Art Nouveau detailing
Numerous famous Czech painters participated in
the decoration of Municipal House, most famously
Alfons Mucha, the most well-known Czech Art Nouveau
artist. His most renowned work is the Mucha window
at St. Vitus Cathedral, a stained glass masterpiece
in brilliant colours. At Municipal House, Mucha
painted the mayor’s hall and his vivid wall
paintings are perfectly preserved and cover the
entire room and the ceiling.
Gorgeous wall paintings by Alfons Mucha
Today, Municipal House is not only one of Prague’s
most popular concert venues, it also holds meeting
space and several hospitality establishments. Most
well-known are the American Bar in the basement
and the famous first class Francouszka Restaurant
on the main level which serves upscale French cuisine.
More original Art Nouveau details
Municipal House also played an important role in
the history of the Czech nation: in 1918 the proclamation
of the independent state of Czechoslovakia took
place here. The building became important again
during the Velvet Revolution when meetings were
held here between the Civic Forum and the communist
regime in November of 1989.
Our guided tour through Municipal House was very
informative
After my foray into Czech Art Nouveau architecture
I strolled back through the Jewish Quarter to the
banks of the Vltava River. My plan was to catch
a boat tour on this historic river and get a different
perspective of the city. I arrived on the Knights
of the Cross Square right in front of the entrance
to the Charles Bridge. Next to the Baroque Church
of St. Francis on the north side of the square I
walked down a set up stone stairs that took me right
underneath the Charles Bridge.
Our boat is moored underground and ready for departure
Long and narrow sightseeing boats were parked in
this underground space, and after offering us some
soft drinks and sweet treats, our captain / tour
guide turned on the diesel engines and we slowly
cruised out onto the open river.
Moving out slowly underneath the Charles Bridge
With a length of 430 kilometres, the Vltava River
is the longest river in the Czech Republic. It separates
the eastern city districts of Old Town, New Town
and the Jewish Quarter from the Little Quarter and
the Prague Castle District on the western bank of
the river. Our captain explained that during its
course through the City of Prague, the Vltava covers
30 kilometres, 10 islands and 17 bridges. Many European
capital cities could be reached from here through
different canals: in the 1800s it would be possible
to get to Berlin in six days, Amsterdam in 10 days,
Paris and Vienna in three weeks. The Vltava River
has obviously held huge importance throughout the
history of the Czech nation.
More sailors on the Vltava River
As we were crossing underneath the arches of the
Charles Bridge, our guide explained that the bridge
is protected by icebreakers. On the west side our
boat took us into a side arm of the Vltava called
the Devil’s Canal which has often been used
as a stand-in for Venice in different movies. This
canal was built to supply power to eight water mills
as the water flow was very fast in this area. Although
this used to be one of the poorer areas of Prague
in previous centuries, the neighbourhood surrounding
the Devil’s Canal is now among the most coveted
real estate in the entire city.
Slowly sailing through the Devil's Canal
As the canal came to an end we turned around and
our captain pointed out the watermarks left on the
old buildings here, leftovers of the Great Flood
of 2002. The water level at that time was 6.5 metres
(more than 20 feet) higher than now. This so-called
100-year flood affected countries such as the Czech
Republic, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary,
Romania and Croatia. For Prague in particular this
was the worst flood in 200 years. The flood caused
huge amount of property damage, but fortunately
the loss of life was small due to timely evacuations.
A large amount of money was invested to reconstruct
damaged properties, and according to our captain,
Prague is nicer now than it was before.
Patio restaurants on the banks of the Vltava River
Crossing back east across the river, our captain
pointed out the Metronome, a symbol of freedom and
changing times. Although not operational any more,
this gigantic metronome replaced the largest Stalin
statue in the world which had roughly the same size
as the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio
de Janeiro. Prague today is one of Europe’s
most beautiful and popular destinations, a far cry
from the grey and drab city of Communist times.
Prague is full of beautifully restored buildings
We had reached the end of our boat trip and slowly
made our way back into the underground docking area
below the Charles Bridge. This boat trip had definitely
introduced me to a whole new perspective of Prague.
Now it was the late afternoon and the weather was
slowly started to turn sunny again. I wanted to
explore the western bank of the Vltava River and
started crossing the historic Charles Bridge, one
of Prague’s most well-known landmarks.
