MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
1. Trade Fair Palace
Salm Palace & Schwarzenberg Palace: MAP B2; Hradčanské náměstí 2 • Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun • Adm • www.ngprague.cz
The National Gallery’s extensive art collection is spread throughout the city in six locations. It opened its museum of 20th and 21st-century art in 1995, set in a reconstruction of a Trade Fair building from 1928. Since 2000, it has also hosted a 19th-century collection. Featured in this collection are French artworks, as well as a splendid collection of Czech modern art. Other locations of the National Gallery are the St Agnes of Bohemia Convent; Sternberg Palace; Schwarzenberg Palace; and the Salm Palace and Kinský Palace.
National Gallery, Trade Fair Palace
2. National Museum
The country’s leading natural history and ethnographic museum (see National Museum) is housed in a building that dominates Wenceslas Square. The entrance fee is worth it, if only to see the grand marble stairway, the Pantheon and the interior paintings. The annexe across the street holds rotating exhibitions.
3. DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
A multi-functional space located in a former factory, DOX showcases unique works of art focussing on current social issues. It also offers special programmes for children.
4. Smetana Museum
Novotného lávka 1 • 222 220082 • Open 10am–5pm Wed–Mon • Adm • www.nm.cz
Part of the National Museum, this grand Renaissance-style building, formerly owned by a water company, is a museum dedicated to the father of Czech music, Bedřich Smetana. Documents, letters, scores and instruments detailing his life and work are exhibited here.
Interior of the Smetana Museum
5. Sternberg Palace
Since 1949, the fine Baroque building of the Sternberg Palace has been used to house the Prague National Gallery’s collection of European art. The gallery is set over three floors that surround the central courtyard. The collection focuses on the Old Masters, and features renowned artists such as Rembrandt, Rubens, El Greco, Van Dyck, Tintoretto and Goya.
6. The City of Prague Museum
The collection at this museum documents the history and cultural development of the Czech capital from prehistory to the 19th century when the Neo-Renaissance building was erected specially for the museum. The exhibition includes china, furniture, relics of medieval guilds, bits of famous Prague buildings and paintings of Prague through the ages. Don’t miss Antonín Langweil’s remarkable 1:500 scale model of the city, which is made entirely of paper and wood. It is a snapshot of how the city looked in 1834. The museum also manages 14 other buildings located around the city that all house exhibitions.
7. Jewish Museum
Ticket centre: Maiselova 38/15 • All sites: open 9am–6pm Sun–Fri (winter: to 4:30pm) • Adm • www.jewishmuseum.cz
This museum’s collection of Judaic art is perhaps the world’s largest, with 40,000 artifacts and 100,000 books. Other exhibits present the lives and history of the Jewish people in Bohemia and Moravia. The museum consists of the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Ceremonial Hall, the Robert Guttman Gallery and four historical synagogues – the Maisel, the Klausen, the Pinkas and the Spanish. All of the museum sites are covered by a single ticket, which is available from the ticket office, the synagogues (except the Maisel) or online.
8. Public Transport Museum
Patočkova 4 • Open Apr–Nov: 9am–5pm Sat–Sun & holidays • Adm • www.dpp.cz/muzeum-mhd
This museum celebrates more than 100 years of Prague’s transport systems. Exhibits range from horse-drawn carriages to the metro, along with unique photographs and models.
9. Museum of Decorative Arts
17. listopadu 2; 778 543900; open 10am–6pm Wed–Sun (to 8pm Tue); adm • House at the Black Madonna: MAP F3; Ovocnỳ trh 19; open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun; www.upm.cz
The museum focuses on historical and contemporary crafts, applied arts and design. Exhibitions on Cubism are held at House at the Black Madonna, a classic Czech Cubist building.
10. National Technical Museum
Kostelní 42 • Open 9am– 6pm Tue–Sun • Adm • www.ntm.cz
This is the ultimate how-things-work museum, with exhibitions on everything from mining and metallurgy to transport and astronomy. Ask a guide to show you the coal mine in the basement.
Exhibits at the National Technical Museum
