PRAGUE

The Czech capital, whose historical core has been listed as a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site since 1992, offers a surprisingly diverse and lavish range of monuments. It is not for nothing that Prague is dubbed the textbook of architecture. The picturesqueness appeal and majesty of this city on the Vltava River is topped off by the panorama of Prague Castle — the home of kings, emperors and presidents.

Wallenstein Palace

The magnificent palace of Albrecht von Wallenstein, the Duke of Frydlant, was also built in Prague, which stands as testimony to his craving for power to this day.

On a site containing 26 houses, several gardens and a brickyard, a large and grand residence with four courtyards was built between 1623 and 1629, the shape and scale of which rivalled Prague Castle itself and completely changed the face of Malá Strana. The generalissimo of the imperial forces hired Italian architects such as Andrea Spezza and Giovanni Pieroni to design the palace. Notable names such as painter Luigi Baccio del Bianco, sculptor Adrian de Vries and many others worked on the decoration of the palace and garden. Evidence of Wallenstein's desire for excellence can be seen in the main hall, on the ceiling of which the duke had himself portrayed as the God of War.

The palace now houses the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, but the palace garden with its stalactite wall, beautiful bronze statues and huge Sala Terrena is normally open to the public and is one of Prague's most notable sights.

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