City Walk Art Nouveau Architecture in Prague

Walking through Prague, you will spot an abundance of buildings with Art Nouveau details the best examples are in the center of Prague and within walking distance of each other. Almost all of the buildings in Prague have remained intact because the city suffered hardly any war damage. That’s why you will find a great number of buildings with Art Nouveau decorations.

Jugenstil or Art Nouveau?

Jugendstil is the German term and Art Nouveau is the French term for a form of architecture dating from the end of the nineteenth century to early twentieth century. This style is characterized by vegetable motifs, such as flowers, leaves and stems, and extensive use was made of decorative wrought ironwork and stained glass. The style is exuberant, graceful and asymmetrical. When you stroll through Prague, it’s impossible not to stumble upon Art Nouveau decorations.

Art Nouveau guided walk

This guided walk is crème the la crème for Art Nouveau-lovers. Your guide is a historian who will tell you all about the characteristics of Art Nouveau and will point out many details on buildings which are not obvious and can easily be missed by the untrained eye. The tour also includes Cubist architecture.

Book the guided city walk ‘Art Nouveau Tour’, if you are not interested in Cubism. This theme of this tour is Art Nouveau architecture. only

Municipal House: Art Nouveau Star Attraction

Prague’s Art Nouveau star attraction is Obecni Dum or Municipal House, located in the very heart of the city on Republiky Square.

The eye-catching main entrance is lavishly decorated with a stained glass canopy and elegant wrought iron elements. A magnificent mosaic entitled Homage to Prague. The inscription around it is taken from Hail to you Prague, brave the time and malice as you have resisted all the storms throughout the ages, a quote from Svatopluk Czech written at the end of the nineteenth century.

The sculptures flanking the mosaic represent Humiliation and the Rebirth of the Czech Nation.

You can enjoy this splendid building in several ways. Listen to a classical concert in the Smetana Hall, home to the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, or join a guided tour and marvel at stained glass windows and ornate decorations.

Probably the best way to take in all this splendour is to sample Pilsner Urquel in the Municipal House Beer Hall, or have a cappuccino in the café Kavarna Obecni Dum.

Hotel Evropa at Wenceslas Square

When you stroll along Wenceslas Square, Grand Hotel Evropa and its slim neighbour Hotel Meran attract your attention. Their gold and yellow statue-studded exteriors gleam in the afternoon sun. Hotel Evropa has changed names and is now Hotel W Prague, the exterior is still the same but the interior has undergone a metamorphosis

Mucha Museum

As an Art Nouveau lover, you can’t leave Prague without visiting the Alphons Mucha Museum. A Czech painter and decorative artist, Mucha was famous for his posters advertising theater productions. The museum also exhibits bank notes, postage stamps, emblems, jewelry and tableware.

Mucha and the Slav Epic

Mucha’s masterpiece, the Slav Epic, twenty larger than life canvases depicting the history of the Slav people is until 2026 on display in the château in Moravský Krumlov in south Moravia. Mucha bequeathed this painting to the city of Prague on condition that a special pavilion should be built. But this has not happened yet.

No need to go to Moravský Krumlov, as you can go to the iMucha exhibition in Obecni Dum (Municipal House) on nam Republiky in Prague. State-of-art technology brings his works including the Slav Epic to life

Self-guided city walk from Obecni Dum to National Theater

START: nam Republiky (metro station)
END: National Theatre
DISTANCE: 3 kilometres

1. Namesti republiky and Obecni dum with the powder tower next to it. Palladium shopping centre and the Communism Museum are also located in this square.

2. Take na Prikope, an elegant shopping street.

3. Take the third street on the left, Panska. The Mucha Museum is at number 7.

4. Go back to Prikope next wide street on your left is Wenceslas Square. Hotel W Prague at number 25, the former Grand Hotel Evropa.

5 Go back to. walk to na Prikope. Its continuation is 28 Rijna, another shopping street.

6. Walk straight on. You are now in Narodni Street.
* At number 37 is Platyz, the first tenement building in Prague. Next to the entrance porch is an small owl, the first parking meter in Prague.
* At number 10 is the Topic house with the Praha Assurance building next to it
* Directly opposite is the Nova Scena building and next to it the National Theater.
* There are several tram stops in front of the National Theatre.

END OF THE WALK

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