PragueBuzz!

Czech’s greatest ruler, Emperor Charles IV, threw the first foundation stone for this late-Gothic cathedral in1344. Further Renaissance and Baroque decorations and constructions were added later on until its completion in 1929, making it the largest and most important church in the Czech Republic. The “Good King” Wenceslas was laid to rest here in Chapel of St Wenceslas. Upon entering the church, you will be greeted by massive stained glass arts depicting historical and religious events.

This alley at the end of Prague Castle complex provides a surprisingly pleasant escape from the typical grandeur of the Prague Castle. Dotting along the small street are small, colorful houses built right into the arches of the Castle walls. They were built in the 16th century for the King’s castle guards. Then when goldsmiths arrived and lived there in the 17th century, the alley was called “Golden Lane.”

Franz Kafka
The street is now largely occupied by souvenir and book shops. Czech’s famous writer Franz Kafka (house 22) stayed here at his sister’s house between 1916 and 1917. Nobel-laureate poet Jaroslaf Seifert lived here who lived in the 1930s in a now demolished building.

Souvenir shops

Museum

Admission
You can’t visit just Golden Lane (I tried.) You have to buy a ticket for either a long or short tour.

Click here for a list of attractions at Prague Castle.

Tags: PragueBuzz, prague, czech, sights, prague castle

Written by Tom J.

The interior is an amazing piece designed between 1929 and 1930 by a German architect, Mies van der Rohe. He wanted to create a strictly functional space not separated from the surrounding nature. The grandeur of the villa must not be expressed through the sheer numbers of decorations and fine arts but by purity, simplicity and top quality materials and modern technology of the early 20th century.

This villa is almost empty. There are only few pieces of furniture left partially because Nazi burned down many of them, and later on the Communist government changed the villa into a dancing school and rehabilitation center for children.

Technical blah

In the 80s, the villa was reconstructed using “modern future materials.” For example instead of using cork layers on all the floors, the PVC was lain down; light-switches from glass were changed to plastic ones, two thirds of villa’s walls are made of glass 5m x 3m x 11 mm, which originated from First Republic. During the 80’s, no one could manufacture such large piece of glass, let alone have it covered by anti-reflection layer. One of the villa’s amazing features is its fully air-conditioned state. Filtration of the air from the street passes through an anti dust filter. The glass walls are steam heated to ensure that no water condensates on them. In the main living room are 7m x 3m x 7cm onyx, semiprecious stone wall which was extracted from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. They cost up to 200, 000 crowns, a sum which was worth four normal family houses during the First Republic. The main entrance floor is covered by highly precious travertine marble extracted in Italy, near Rome.

Some of the glass walls can be electrically pulled down to the basement, and the villa reveals itself to nature. When the sun illuminates into the villa’s interior, the sunbeams shroud the onyx wall blood red color and create light-maps all over the living room, producing a very cool effect.

Visitation

We visited the villa at 17:00. The guided tour took approximately 40 minutes; thus we were not able to see the villa under the sunlight. It was a fascinating experience to see night illumination on the interiors, produced mainly by illuminating milk-glass walls which spreading smooth day-like light.

From 1930, the villa was inhabited by the Tugendthats, who were Czech Jews, until their emigration to Switzerland and to Venezuela before WWII. During the war, bombs hit the gardens, glassed walls and partially the floor cork, destroying much of the interior. Herr Tugendthat was an amateur photographer and documented the interiors in details, so you can have see what the villa looked like in the past in black and white pictures.

Recently, Tugendthat’s ancestors asked for restitution to renovate the villa and administer the villa themselves. A four-year reconstruction project for the villa is set to begin in early 2007. We’re not sure if this project is carried out by the government or the villa’s returning owners.

Getting There

• Visit the villa’s site and book the visit.
• Hitchhike to Brno if you are a crazy traveler.
• Use Student agency’s bus services or train.
• In Brno, use public transport or taxi to get to the villa. Look at map.

It takes about 2 to 3 hours to get to Brno.

Contact me to add or suggest other information

For more information on Tugendthat, visit www.tugendhat-villa.cz/html.en/index.html.

Tags: Czech, Prague, PragueBuzz, UNESCO, Villa, Tugendthat