★★★★★ 5.0
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Museum of Prague
You know that incredible paper model you're about to see inside? It took Antonín Langweil ELEVEN years to build, and get this... he was completely self-taught and worked on it while going blind! Right now you're standing in front of a Neo-Renaissance palace from 1898, but here's what blows my mind - this exact spot used to be medieval butcher shops until the great fire of 1689. Look up at those carved faces between the second-floor windows... each one represents a different Prague guild master who never actually existed - the architect just made them up for fun! Inside, past that gorgeous marble staircase, you'll find Langweil's masterpiece covering 20 square meters with over 2,000 paper buildings, accurate down to individual window frames. The craziest part? Langweil's model is now MORE historically valuable than he ever imagined, because it shows 800 buildings that were demolished during Prague's 19th-century modernization. You're literally looking at the ONLY record of what half the Jewish Quarter looked like before it vanished forever.
Did You Know?
- The National Museum in Prague was founded in 1818 as 'The Patriotic Museum in Bohemia' by the Czech aristocracy, originally focusing on natural sciences, but it became a symbol of Czech national identity and played a key role in the Czech National Revival, helping to promote Czech language and culture during a time when German dominated scholarly life.
- The museum’s main building, completed in 1891 and designed by Josef Schulz, is a stunning Neo-Renaissance masterpiece located at the top of Wenceslas Square. It is famous for its grand Pantheon beneath the dome, a richly decorated main staircase hall, and breathtaking ceiling frescoes—plus, visitors can climb to the dome for a panoramic view of Prague’s skyline.
- Despite its grandeur, the National Museum is not just one building: it manages nearly 14 million items across dozens of locations, including specialized museums like the Antonín Dvořák Museum, the Museum of Music, and even a Children’s Museum connected by an underground corridor to the main building—making it a treasure trove for families, history buffs, and science lovers alike.