Our Favourite Photos of Architecture in Prague, Czech Republic

Prague’s Iconic Castle

This spring I had the opportunity to visit Prague, with my visiting parents. It was the first time any of us had been to the Czech Republic and I was particularly taken with the city’s architecture. The styles ranged from the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral to the Art Deco hotels of the city centre to the modern curved design of the ‘Dancing House’. The following collection includes my favourite photos of the architecture of Prague.

It’s not possible to explore central Prague without at least spotting glimpses of Prague Castle perched above the city.  This huge complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and listed in the Guinness Book of World Record’s as the world’s largest castle.

The best views of the castle are from the banks of the Vltava River where you can see the entire royal complex as well as views of the Charles Bridge.

Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge as seen from the Vltava

Two more of my favourite architecture photos were taken inside the Prague Castle complex. The first is a detail of one of the beautiful buildings in the Prague Castle Gardens.

I loved the facade of this beautiful building in the Prague Castle Gardens

The second set of photos comes from inside Saint Vitus’ Cathedral. This Gothic cathedral contained some of the most stunning stained glass windows I’ve seen. My favourite, seen here, was designed by the Czech Art Nouveau master, Alphonse Mucha.

Inside Saint Vitus’ Cathedral and the Alphonse Mucha window

Speaking of Art Nouveau, Prague has some excellent examples. In fact, the city centre has the highest concentration of beautiful Art Nouveau and Art Deco facades I’ve seen outside of Belgium. Our first look at the city centre began on the bustling Wenceslas Square.

Prague’s bustling Wenceslas Square.

Here we spotted many beautiful facades as we wandered deeper into the historic centre, towards the Old Town Square.

Some of Prague’s colourful architecture

Art Nouveau in Prague

One of the most striking Art Nouveau buildings is the Municipal House, home to shops, restaurants and a beautiful concert hall.

The Municipal House; concert venue, restaurant and shopping complex

More Art Nouveau goodness can be found along the Vltava Riverfront. Buildings appear here in a whole rainbow of colours.

The colourful Vltava Riverfront

A highlight for me, however, was spotting something a little more modern – the ‘Dancing House,’ also known as Fred and Ginger. This stunning piece of architecture was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić and Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, one of my design heroes.

The ‘Dancing House,’ also known as Fred and Ginger

But when in Prague, all roads seem to lead to the Old Town Square. There’s a variety of beautifully restored buildings surrounding the square, but the main tourist draw is the city’s Astronomical Clock.

Prague’s Astronomical Clock or Orloj is the oldest working one in the world

The clock is huge and interesting, but my favourite photo of the clock tower doesn’t show its famous face at all.

The Astronomical Clock Tower in moody Black and White

I look forward to returning to Prague with my camera in the future, to capture even more of this unique and colourful city.