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Museum of Communism
It’s difficult to think of a more ironic site for a museum of communism – in an 18th-century aristocrat’s palace, between a casino on one side and a McDonald’s on the other. Put together by an American expat and his Czech partner, the museum tells the story of Czechoslovakia’s year
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Telč Chateau
Telčs sumptuous Renaissance chateau guards the northern end of the Telč peninsula. The chateau was rebuilt from the original Gothic structure in the 16th century and remains in fine fettle, with immaculately tended lawns and beautifully kept interiors. In the ornate Chapel of St Ge
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Prague City Museum
This excellent museum, opened in 1898, is devoted to the history of Prague from prehistoric times to the 20th century. Among the many intriguing exhibits are the Astronomical Clock’s original 1866 calendar wheel with Josef Mánes’ beautiful painted panels representing the months – t
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Karel Zeman Museum
Bohemia-born director Karel Zeman (1910–89) was a pioneer of movie special effects whose work is little known outside the Czech Republic. This fascinating museum, established by his daughter, reveals the many tricks and techniques he perfected, and even allows visitors a bit of han
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Ghetto Museum
The Ghetto Museum explores the rise of Nazism and life in the Terezín ghetto. The building once accommodated the camp’s 10- to 15-year-old boys; haunting images painted by them still decorate the walls.The former Magdeburg Barracks (Magdeburská kasárna), which served as the seat of
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Mucha Museum
This fascinating (and busy) museum features the sensuous art nouveau posters, paintings and decorative panels of Alfons Mucha (1860–1939), as well as many sketches, photographs and other memorabilia. The exhibits include countless artworks showing Mucha’s trademark Slavic maidens w
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Czech Silver Museum
Originally part of the town’s fortifications, the Hrádek (Little Castle) was rebuilt in the 15th century as the residence of Jan Smíšek, administrator of the royal mines, who grew rich from silver mined illegally right under the building. It now houses the Czech Silver Museum. Visi
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Charles Bridge Museum
Founded in the 13th century, the Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star were the guardians of Judith Bridge (and its successor Charles Bridge), with their ‘mother house’ at the Church of St Francis Seraphinus on Křížovnické náměstí. This museum, housed in the order’s h
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Daliborka
This tower is named after the knight Dalibor of Kozojedy, imprisoned here in 1498 for supporting a peasant rebellion, and later executed. According to legend, he played a violin that could be heard throughout the castle; composer Bedřich Smetana based his 1868 opera Dalibor on the
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Šternberg Palace
The baroque Šternberg Palace is home to the National Gallery’s collection of 14th- to 18th-century European art, including works by Goya and Rembrandt. Fans of medieval altarpieces will be in heaven; there are also several Rubens, some Rembrandts and Breughels, and a large collecti
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Old Town Square
One of Europe’s biggest and most beautiful urban spaces, the Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí, or Staromák for short) has been Prague’s principal public square since the 10th century, and was its main marketplace until the beginning of the 20th century. There are busking jazz
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Church of Our Lady of the Snows
This Gothic church at the northern end of Wenceslas Square was begun in the 14th century by Charles IV, but only the chancel was ever completed, which accounts for its proportions – seemingly taller than it is long. Charles had intended it to be the grandest church in Prague; the n
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Špilberk Castle
Brnos spooky hilltop castle is considered the citys most important landmark. Its history stretches back to the 13th century, when it was home to Moravian margraves and later a fortress. Under the Habsburgs in the 18th and 19th centuries, it served as a prison. Today its home to the
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Story of Prague Castle
Housed in the Gothic vaults beneath the Old Royal Palace, this huge and impressive collection of artefacts ranks alongside the Lobkowicz Palace as one of the most interesting exhibits in the castle. It traces 1000 years of the castle’s history, from the building of the first wooden
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Na Příkopě
Na Příkopě (On the Moat), along with Revoluční (Revolution), 28.října (28 October 1918; Czechoslovak Independence Day) and Národní třída (National Ave), follows the line of the moat that once ran along the foot of Staré Město’s city walls (the moat was filled in at the end of the 1
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Main Fortress
The sheer scale of the walls and moats surrounding the Main Fortress is impossible to fathom – mainly because the town is inside the fortifications. Initially, you may think the central square looks no different from other Czech old town centres. Wander past the walls en route to t
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Schwarzenberg Palace
Sporting a beautifully preserved facade of black-and-white Renaissance sgraffito, the Schwarzenberg Palace houses the National Gallery’s collection of baroque art. Sadly, a lot of the paintings are poorly lit and suffer from reflections from nearby windows – a shame, as the inside
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Petřín
Most of the attractions atop Petřín hill were built in the late 19th to early 20th century, lending the place an old-fashioned, fun-fair atmosphere. The huge stone fortifications that run from Újezd to Strahov, cutting across Petříns peak, are different. This so-called Hunger Wall
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Estates Theatre
Prague’s oldest theatre and finest neoclassical building, the Estates Theatre is where the premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni was performed on 29 October 1787, with the maestro himself conducting. Opened in 1783 as the Nostitz Theatre (after its founder, Count Anton von Nostitz-Rien
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Wallenstein Garden
This huge, baroque garden is an oasis of peace amid the bustle of Malá Stranas streets. Created for Duke Albrecht of Wallenstein in the 17th century, its finest feature is the huge loggia decorated with scenes from the Trojan Wars, flanked to one side by an enormous fake stalactite
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