With an area of more than seven hectares, Charles Square is the city’s biggest square; it’s more like a small park, really, and was originally the city's cattle market. Presiding over it is the Church of St Ignatius , a 1660s baroque tour de force designed for the Jesuits by Carlo Lurago.
The baroque palace at the southern end of the square belongs to Charles University. It’s known as Faust House because, according to a popular story, this house was where Mephisto took Dr Faust away to hell through a hole in the ceiling, and because of associations with Rudolf II’s English court alchemist, Edward Kelley, who toiled here in the 16th century trying to convert lead into gold.
