Description from Prague TV
With its immense size and charm, Obecní dům (Municipal House), Prague's most famous Art Nouveau building, is impossible to pass by.

Located on the corner of Náměstí Republiky, the exterior is adorned with sculptures, complex stonework, stained glass windows and mosaics.

Illuminated by original skylights and frescoes, the interior is just as awe-inspiring as the exterior. Large marble columns with gold plated detail surround great staircases to each floor.

Also within the Municipal House lies Prague's biggest concert venue, Smetana Hall, where brilliant acoustics guide classical musicians including the Prague Symphony Orchestra (Symfonický orchestr hl. m. Prahy FOK).

The top floor is often home to temporary art exhibitions, featuring both Czech and international artists.

If all the exuberance induces hunger, there is a café as well as a gourmet French restaurant and an American-style cocktail bar within the building.

The site where Obecní dům now stands was once named the King's Court (Králův dvůr) and served as a home to King Wenceslas IV in the late 14th century. Bohemian rulers also found shelter in Králův dvůr until 1526, when the Habsburgs began their reign.

Subsequently unoccupied, it become a storage place for gunpowder and later, a military academy.

On November 22nd, 1912, Obecní dům officially opened and is both an important landmark and a key part of Czech history.

It was here in 1918 that Czechoslovak independence was declared, and where former President Václav Havel worked out the transition of power with the Communists following 1989's Velvet Revolution.

Ashley N. Knierim