DK Travel : Prague : Places of interest

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Maltézské náměstí

The Knights of Malta once had an autonomous settlement here, and the square still bears their name. The area is dominated by beautiful Baroque palaces, and the 12th-century Church of Our Lady Below the Chain – so called for the Marian portrait inside that hangs beneath chains from the Judith Bridge, the precursor to Charles Bridge.
Mirror Maze

The warped mirrors lining the walls here are great fun for making faces, pointing fingers at distended bellies and elongated bodies and giggling hysterically, whatever your age. For older children interested in a bit of gore and history combined, the battle-scene diorama is another of the many attractions on Petřín Hill.
Monument of National Liberation

The one-eyed Hussite general Jan Žižka defeated invading crusaders in 1420 atop the hill where his giant equestrian statue now stands in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Erected in 1929, the monument serves as a memorial to all those who suffered in the Czech struggle for independence. The Communists co-opted the building, and for a time it served as President Klement Gottwald’s mausoleum.
Municipal House

National Revival artist Alfons Mucha was one of many to lend his talents to the Municipal House (Obecní Dům ), Prague’s star Art Nouveau attraction. One of its most beautiful and striking features is Karel Špillar’s mosaic above the main entrance, entitled Homage to Prague. It also has a firm place in history as it was from the Municipal House that Czechoslovakia was declared an independent state in 1918. Today, it is home to restaurants, cafés, exhibition halls, shops and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
Na Příkopě

Formerly a moat protecting the city’s eastern flank, Na Příkopě is Prague’s fashion boulevard, counting Benetton, Izod, Marks & Spencers and Taiza among its big-name stores. Shoppers jam the pedestrian zone and pavement cafés, streaming between the gleaming Myslbek Shopping Centre and Slovanský dům, with its 10-screen multiplex cinema. The Hussite firebrand Jan Želivský preached on the site now occupied by another shopping mall, the Černá Růže Palace.
Náměstí Republiky

The odd couple of the Art Nouveau Municipal House and the Neo-Gothic Powder Tower are the centrepiece of Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square), facing the Czech National Bank’s stern façade and the Hybernia Theatre, currently undergoing renovation. The composer Frédéric Chopin stayed briefly at a house that stood at the corner of Hybernská and Senovážná. Behind the theatre, at Hybernská 7, is the former home of the Lenin Museum, closed in 1991 after the Communists had lost power. The unassuming Church of St Joseph huddles in the northeast corner of the square.
Národní třída

The end of Communism in Czechoslovakia began midway between the National Theatre and what is now the Tesco supermarket. On 17 November 1989, police put a brutal end to a pro-democracy march as it made its way to Wenceslas Square. A plaque under the arcade at Národní 20 marks where marchers and truncheons met.
National Theatre

Patriotic Czechs funded the theatre’s construction twice: once in 1868 and again after fire destroyed the building in 1883. To see the stunning allegorical ceiling frescoes and Vojtěch Hynais’ celebrated stage curtain, take in one of the operas staged here; good picks are Smetana’s Libuše , which debuted on this stage, or Dvořák’s The Devil and Kate . Next door is Laterna Magika, where you can see black-light productions (see Laterna Magika).
Nerudova

The 19th-century Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda (1834–91) lived in the “House of the Two Suns”, at the top of the street that now bears his name. Lined with former palaces, Nerudova leads uphill from Malostranské náměstí, its many winding side streets leading visitors up to Prague Castle. Traditionally an artists’ quarter, the street is worth exploring for its many craft shops and galleries. It is also home to one of the most concentrated collections of historic house signs in the city (see House Signs).
New Town Hall

In 1419, an anti-clerical mob led by Jan Želivský hurled the Catholic mayor and his councillors from a New Town Hall window in the first of Prague’s defenestrations (see Prague’s Third Defenestration). The Gothic tower on the building’s eastern end was added a few years later; its viewing platform is open to the public. The crowds that gather round the tower’s base nearly every Saturday are there to congratulate newlyweds, married in the building’s Gothic hall.