Prague Castles

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Like other tourist attractions in the city, Prague castles are on most tourists’ list. This is hardly surprising considering the wonderful design and structures and sights worth your time, not to mention the rich history behind each castle.

Prague Castle

Prague Castle spans 570 meters, making it as one of the world’s largest castles. Located in the Hradcany royal complex, it sits side by side with other important Prague architecture like the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Renaissance Archbishop’s Palace, the Romanesque St. George Basilica, defense towers, a monastery, and other structures. The Hradcany complex perches on a hill the overlooks the Vltava River.

Prague Castle was the presidential seat in 1918, but large portions of the castle were closed to the Czechs during the communist years. It is believed that enormous and secret underground shelters were built to link the residence of the President with the rest of the royal complex. Prague Castle today is undoubtedly the most favorite tourist attraction and landmark.

Troja Castle

The baroque Troja Castle was built in 1679-1691 for the Counts of Sternberg. The design was influenced by Italian and French architecture. In fact, the design was largely the work of Jean Baptiste Mathey, a French architect.

The castle’s major rooms are adorned with a superb baroque Habsburg’s apotheosis. You will find a lot of mythological elements present in this trompe-l’œil orname, thanks to the painters Abraham and Isaac Godyn; these brothers arrived in Prague from Anvers in 1690. Francesco Marchetti painted most of the other works in the castle. This Prague chateux now hosts the 19th century Czech art collections.

Vyšehrad

Vyšehrad was built in the 10th century, on a hill overlooking the Vltava River. It is located within the castle is the St, Paul and St. Peter basilicas, and also the famous Vyšehrad cemetery. It houses the remains of famous people in Czech history, including Bedřich Smetanam, Karel Čapek, and Antonín Dvořák.

Local legend has it that the castle was the site of the first settlement in the capital city of the Czech Republic, although this claim is unsupported thus far. Vyšehrad and the areas surrounding it became part of Prague in 1883. Vyšehrad is one of the city’s cadastral districts.

Škvorec Castle

Škvorec Castle used to be one of the magnificent castles in Prague. It was first mentioned in the historical sources in 1279. But a fuller documentation dated back from 1404. The founder of the castle, and perhaps the builder too, was Domaslav around 1279. He was an important courtier and served as the butler of Queen Kunigunda. From the original castle, only the deep well survived.