★★★★★ 5.0
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New National Museum
Did you know this building used to have SECRET listening devices hidden in EVERY single room - even the bathrooms? That's right, explorers - you're standing in front of the old Communist Parliament building from 1973, where 1,200 microphones were secretly installed to spy on everyone! Look up at those 365 windows - one for each day of the year - and imagine this whole building was like a giant concrete sandwich, 70 meters tall... that's as tall as TWENTY giraffes standing on top of each other! Before this massive building was here, there used to be the old Prague Stock Exchange from 1871, but the Communists knocked it down because they didn't like money markets. Now here's the REALLY cool part - when they renovated this place in 2009, workers found a hidden tunnel underneath that nobody knew about for 36 years! Today it's our New National Museum, but can you spot the bronze statues on the corners? Count them... there are exactly EIGHT, and they're all looking down like they're still watching everyone! Inside, those super thick walls that used to keep secrets IN now keep the temperature perfect for protecting ancient Czech treasures. Let's
Did You Know?
- The National Museum's main building, completed in 1891, was designed by Josef Schulz in a grand Neo-Renaissance style and is decorated with statues by Ludwig Schwanthaler, including figures from Czech legend like Libuše and Přemysl the Ploughman—making it not just a museum but a monumental work of art celebrating Czech identity and history.
- The museum’s most famous exhibit is a 23-meter-long fin whale skeleton, which has been a beloved ‘mascot’ for over 130 years and is especially popular with children, who can marvel at this giant of the natural world in the heart of Prague.
- The building was so culturally significant that during the 1968 Prague Spring and the 1989 Velvet Revolution, it became a focal point for protests and gatherings—its facade even bears bullet holes from the 1968 Soviet invasion, serving as a silent witness to pivotal moments in Czech history.