Lucerna Palace: Havel's Art Nouveau arcade and its upside-down horse

Most visitors walk straight past Lucerna. They are busy looking at Wenceslas Square, the statue and the museum at the top. The entrance is set back between shops and easy to miss, but step through and the street becomes a covered arcade of balconies and glass, with a horse hanging belly-up from the ceiling. Welcome to the city's favourite family project.

A family project

Lucerna was built by Vácslav Havel, grandfather of Václav Havel, the playwright who became president. It went up in stages in the early twentieth century, and the Havel family owned it for decades. The communist authorities nationalised it, and it returned to the family after 1989.

The style is Art Nouveau, with a modern structure for its day. A passage runs through to the streets on the far side, and the building holds shops, a cinema, a café, a great hall and music venues. Think of it less as a palace than as a small town under glass.

What is inside

• The Great Hall (Velký sál) hosts concerts, dances and events, and has done for decades.
• Lucerna cinema is one of the older cinemas in Prague, a good place to see a film in a historic setting.
• The passage is free to walk through, with a few places to sit.
• The upside-down horse is a sculpture by David Černý. It shows St Wenceslas, the national patron, riding a dead horse that hangs from the ceiling, a dig at the statue in the square outside. Some people love it and some think it is rude, which was rather the point.

Other venues in the building change their programmes often, so check their own listings rather than relying on a flyer.

Why it matters

Generations of Praguers have used Lucerna as a meeting point, for balls, concerts and cinema evenings. For a visitor it is a quick lesson in how the city's private cultural institutions grew in the early twentieth century, and why Wenceslas Square is about more than shopping. It is also a rare building where the same family's name is attached to the architecture and, later, to the country's presidency. Prague has a way of making history walk past you at ground level.

How to visit

Walking through the arcade costs nothing. For a proper look, allow half an hour and add a film or an event if something takes your fancy. Tickets for the great hall and other venues come from the organisers and official ticket channels, so check the date, hall and start time before you buy (as of 2026; check the official source for the current programme).

What locals know

The horse works as a meeting point, a clear landmark in a city of confusing ones. They also treat Lucerna as a place for specific events rather than casual wandering: a particular film, a night in the music club, a ball with a dress code. If you go on an event night, give yourself more time than you think, because the lobbies fill up.

A small habit worth borrowing: go before an evening event and see the arcade empty, then watch it fill.

Getting there

From Můstek (lines A and B) or Muzeum (lines A and C), walk along the square and look for the entrance on the side. Trams run on nearby streets. Taxis and ride-hailing cars can drop you close by, though the centre gets congested.

After the show

The streets around Vodičkova have cafés and pubs. Wenceslas Square after dark can be rough around the edges, so keep your belongings close and your plan simple. For a quieter night, walk towards the river.

The Havel connection

It helps to know who the Havels were. Vácslav Havel was a builder and entrepreneur, and his grandson Václav became a playwright, a leading dissident and, after 1989, president. The family's name sits on this building and on the country's modern story, which is why Lucerna feels like more than an arcade. You are standing in a place that a family built, lost and got back.

If you want to follow the thread, look at what the building does today. The cinema, the hall and the music clubs keep the old idea alive: a private cultural house in the middle of the city, open to anyone who buys a ticket or simply walks through.

Seeing it well

Go in daylight to see the glass and the balconies at their best, then come back in the evening if you have a ticket for something. The mood changes completely once the lights are on. If you have time, sit in the café for ten minutes and watch the passage: commuters, couples and tour groups all pass through, and the building handles them with a lack of fuss that is very Prague.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to enter Lucerna?

Walking through the passage is free. Events and cinema screenings need tickets.

Who built Lucerna?

Vácslav Havel, grandfather of Václav Havel, the writer and president.

Who made the upside-down horse?

The sculptor David Černý. It shows St Wenceslas on a dead horse hanging from the ceiling.

What is the nearest metro?

Můstek (lines A and B) or Muzeum (lines A and C).

Today: look at the Lucerna listings for the coming week, pick one event or film and put the time and a meeting point in your calendar.