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In the 18th century, occupying French troops drilled holes in Vyšehrad rock to store ammunition.

The first church to stand on this site was founded by Vratislav II in the 11th century, but the Neo-Gothic structure seen today dates from 1885. The altar is decorated with a beautiful Gothic panel depicting Our Lady of the Rains .

The Communist Palace of Culture is trying hard to make up for its ugliness by hosting pop concerts and international conferences.

Cubist architecture took off in Prague, as a cluster of houses below Vyšehrad testifies. Josef Chochol built the angular buildings on Podolské nábřeží, Libušina and the corner of Přemyslova and Neklanova.

The story goes that the devil bet a local priest that he could carry this pillar to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome before the clergyman finished his sermon. A sore loser, he threw the column to the ground here.

Developers are helping this former warehouse district make a comeback. It’s home to the National Gallery’s Veletržní Palace (see National Gallery), and motor car fans will love the National Technical Museum, with its exhibits of Czech interwar vehicles such as Škodas.

A grand staircase leads from the Vltava riverbank opposite the Josefov quarter (see Josefov) to an unexpected giant metronome. The needle marks time where a mammoth statue of Joseph Stalin once stood before it was demolished in the 1960s (see Letná Plinth). The surrounding park echoes with the clatter of skateboards and barking dogs. Travelling circuses sometimes set up in the open fields, but Letná’s popular beer garden is probably its biggest draw.

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.

As charmless as the Congress Centre, this viaduct spans the Nusle Valley, connecting New Town to the Pankrác banking and commercial district.

This 11th-century chapel is the oldest in Prague and most likely to be the oldest Christian house of worship in the country. It was reconstructed in 1878.