Page 118 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Prague

116  PR A GUE AREA B Y AREA

t Martinic Palace for the Lobkowicz
Martinický Palác family by the Italian
architect Agostino Galli
Hradčanské náměstí 8. Map 1 C2.
Tel 777 798 040. X Malostranská, in 1545–76, the gabled
Hradčanská. v 22. 8 only (call palace is Florentine
ahead to arrange). & rather than Bohemian
∑ martinickypalac.cz in style. It passed
through several
In the course of the palace’s hands before the
restoration in the early 1970s, Schwarzenbergs, a
workmen uncovered the original leading family in the
16th-century façade decorated Habsburg Empire,
with ornate cream and brown bought it in 1719.
sgraffito (see p111). The exterior Much of the interior
depicts Old Testament scenes, decoration has survived,
including the story of Joseph including four painted
and Potiphar’s wife. More sgraffito ceilings on the second
in the internal courtyard shows floor dating from 1580.
the story of Samson and the This palace once housed
Labours of Hercules. the Museum of Military
Martinic Palace was enlarged History, now located at Tycho Brahe, Rudolph II’s astronomer
by Jaroslav Bořita of Martinic, U Památníku 3. Following
who was one of the imperial renovation, the palace became In defiance of their poverty,
governors thrown from a home to the National Gallery’s the inhabitants of these cottages
window of the Royal Palace collection of Baroque art. chose golden house signs to
in 1618 (see p107). In the square outside is the identify their modest houses –
According to an old legend, statue of Tomáš G Masaryk, you will see depictions of a
between 11pm and midnight, Czechoslovakia’s first president. Golden Pear, a Grape, a Foot,
the ghost of a fiery black dog a Bush and an Acorn. Plaques
appears at the palace and acc- identify No. 1 as the former
ompanies walkers as far as the u New World home of Rudolph II’s brilliant
Loreto (see pp118–19). You can Nový Svět court astronomer, Tycho Brahe,
tour the palace or visit a small Map 1 B2. v 22, 25 to Brusnice. and No. 25 as the 1857 birth-
museum of musical machines, place of the great Czech
such as gramophones. Now a charming street of violinist František Ondříček.
small cottages, Nový Svět
(New World) used to be the
y Schwarzenberg name of this area of Hradčany. i Capuchin
Palace Developed in the mid-14th Monastery
Schwarzenberský Palác century to provide houses for Kapucínský Klášter
the castle workers, the area was
Hradčanské náměstí 2. Map 2 D3. twice destroyed by fire, the last Loretánské náměstí 6. Map 1 B3.
Tel 233 081 713. X Malostranská, time being in 1541. Most of the v 22, 25. Closed to the public
Hradčanská. v 22. Open 10am–6pm except the church. 5 6pm Mon–Sat,
Tue–Sun. & ^ 7 ∑ ngprague.cz cottages date from the 17th 8:30am Sun.
century. They have been spruced
From a distance, the façade of up, but are otherwise unspoilt Bohemia’s first Capuchin mon-
this grand Renaissance palace and very different in character astery was founded here in
appears to be clad in projecting from the rest of Hradčany. 1600. It is connected to the
pyramid-shaped stonework. On neighbouring Loreto (see
closer inspection, this turns out pp118–19) by an overhead
to be an illusion created by roofed passage. Attached to
sgraffito patterns the monastery is the Church
incised on a flat of Our Lady Queen of Angels,
wall. Built originally a single-naved building with
plain furnishings, typical of
the ascetic Capuchin order.
The church is famous for
its miraculous statue of the
Madonna and Child. Emperor
Rudolph II liked the statue so
much he asked the Capuchins
to give it to him to place in
his private chapel. The monks
The Carmelite monastery next to the Schwarzenberg Palace agreed, but then the statue

116-117_EW_Prague.indd 116 20/03/17 11:28 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm