Prague Castle

Prague Castle is in Prague, a city in Czechia.

It sits on a hill above a river. It is not one building but a whole group of palaces, towers, halls and gardens.

Prague Castle stands on a hill above the Vltava River, looking over the city of Prague. It is not a single building but a big complex of palaces, towers, offices, a cathedral and gardens, set around three courtyards and covering 45 hectares.

Prague's official tourism office calls it the largest castle complex in the world. Kings and princes once lived here, and since 1918 it has been the seat of the president.

The castle crowns a hill above the Vltava, where a Slavic settlement already stood when the castle was founded. Prague City Tourism describes it as a monumental complex of church, fortification, residential and office buildings in every architectural style and period, surrounding three courtyards and covering 45 hectares, and calls it the largest castle complex in the world.

Originally the residence of the princes and kings of Bohemia, it has been the seat of the president since 1918, and since 1962 it has been registered, with its archaeological finds, as National Cultural Monument No. 1. UNESCO names it among the outstanding monuments of the Historic Centre of Prague, inscribed in 1992.

Inside the castle walls there is a big church with tall, pointed towers.

There is also a street called Golden Lane.

The castle's cathedral is St. Vitus Cathedral. Charles IV laid its foundation stone in the 1300s, but it was only finished in 1929, more than 550 years later.

Visitors can also see the Old Royal Palace, the Royal Garden and Golden Lane. Between 1920 and 1935 the architect Josip Plečnik redesigned courtyards, gardens and rooms so the old castle could work as the seat of a modern president.

The cathedral, begun under Charles IV, was finished only in the 20th century: after 1859 an association for its completion was founded, and the cathedral was repaired and then completed in 1929. Prague City Tourism also lists the Old Royal Palace, the Royal Garden with the Renaissance Ball Games Hall and Queen Anne's Summer Palace (Belveder), and Golden Lane.

The Slovene architect Josip Plečnik reshaped the first and third courtyards, the southern gardens, the Bastion Garden and many interiors in 1920–1935, uniting historic rooms with modern needs for the president's seat; his pupil Otto Rothmayer completed several interiors after the Second World War.

In the photo, the castle rises above red-roofed houses.

The cathedral's pointed towers stand tall in the middle. One tower has a green top.

The photo was taken from high above the city on 2 July 2022. The dark cathedral with its pointed spires and a tower with a green top rises above a long, pale palace wing. All around are red-tiled roofs, trees and gardens, and the city stretches away to the horizon.

Today the castle is open to visitors every day, and after 1989 many more parts of it were opened to the public.

The photograph (2 July 2022, Diego Delso) looks across the red roofs of the town below to the castle: the dark cathedral with twin spires and a tall tower with a green top, a long pale palace wing in front, gardens and trees on the slope, and the city and hills on the horizon.

Prague City Tourism notes that many parts of the castle were opened to the public after 1989. The castle complex itself is open daily from early morning to late evening, while its historic buildings keep shorter visiting hours.