National Gallery Prague: how the museum network works

A visitor goes looking for the National Gallery, finds a palace full of Old Masters, asks where the modern art is, and gets sent across the river. It happens often enough to deserve a plain explanation. The National Gallery Prague is not one building. It is a network, and each site tells a different part of the story.

Why it is split up

The collections live in historic palaces and one huge twentieth-century exhibition hall. Prague had plenty of grand buildings, and the art went into them as the collections grew. The upside is that every visit has a clear theme. The downside is that you can't see everything in a morning, so don't try.

Sites have been reorganised and rebuilt over the years, and displays rotate. Choose by what you want to see, then confirm on the official site that the building is open and the display is up.

Veletržní Palace

The Veletržní Palace (Veletržní palác) in Holešovice is the gallery's home for modern and contemporary art. It is a large functionalist building finished in 1928 as a trade-fair palace, which is why the inside feels like an airy atrium rather than a palace. You'll find Czech and international art from the nineteenth century onwards, including French art and Czech modernism with its Cubism and avant-garde.

Mucha's Slav Epic has also been shown here, though not necessarily now. Our guide to Mucha and Czech Art Nouveau explains why it is worth checking before you go. If time is short, this is the place to start, because the sweep from the 1800s to the present is easy to follow. Afterwards, walk around Holešovice.

Sternberg Palace

The Sternberg Palace (Šternberský palác) stands at Hradčany Square, next to Prague Castle. It holds European art from antiquity to the Baroque, with Old Master paintings and sculpture. If you're already doing the Castle, it makes a quiet counterweight to the crowds. Our Prague Castle guide shows how the day can fit together.

Other sites

The Schwarzenberg Palace, close to the Castle, has long housed the gallery's Baroque art. The Kinský Palace on Old Town Square and the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (Anežský klášter) have also belonged to the network at various times, holding different collections or exhibitions. Their displays have changed, which is exactly why the official site matters more than a printed map or a five-year-old blog.

Tickets and planning

Tickets are sold on site and online. Some cover one building, others several, and the official site lists what applies to each exhibition. Prices change, so this article gives none.

If you're picking one site, choose the Veletržní Palace for modern art and the sweep of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the Sternberg Palace for Old Masters. If you have the energy for both, do them on different days. A room of Baroque altarpieces looks very different at 10 a.m. than at 3 p.m.

Do this today

Open the official site, see which sites are open this week, and pick one theme. Then take a tram rather than a taxi: both main sites are easy by public transport, and our beginner's guide to the metro, trams and buses explains which ticket you need.