★★★★★ 5.0
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Prague New City Hall
See that tower shooting up 70 meters into the Prague sky? In 1419, angry Hussites literally threw seven city councilors out of those windows up there, kicking off Europe's first Protestant revolution... and giving us the word "defenestration"! You're standing at the New City Hall, though "new" is relative – Charles IV ordered this Gothic beast built in 1348, making it older than most American states by about 400 years. Before this imposing stone facade went up, medieval merchants ran a rowdy marketplace here, selling everything from Hungarian wine to Bohemian garnets. Look closely at that corner tower – it's actually leaning 40 centimeters off-center because the builders hit an underground stream halfway through construction in 1352! Step through that massive oak door and you'll find yourself in the same hall where Jan Hus was tried for heresy in 1412. The locals know to visit Tuesday mornings when the wedding chapel's empty – you can sneak up the spiral staircase to see Prague's only surviving medieval toilet, complete with a 600-year-old wooden seat! Most tourists never realize this building holds the Czech Republic's oldest functioning astronomical clock mechanism... three years OLDER than the famous one everyone photographs at Old Town Square.
Did You Know?
- The New City Hall (Nová radnice) in Prague, built between 1908 and 1911 by architect Osvald Polívka, is a striking example of Art Nouveau architecture, blending elaborate decorative details, grand halls, and a monumental facade—yet it stands on the site of a former Romanesque church demolished in 1798, layering centuries of Prague's architectural history in one location.
- Since 1945, the New City Hall has served as the official seat of Prague’s municipal government, housing the offices of the Mayor, City Council, and City Assembly, making it the political heart of the Czech capital—a role it shares with no other building in the city.
- Though often confused with the historic New Town Hall (Novoměstská radnice), which was the center of the medieval New Town and the site of dramatic events like the 1419 defenestration that sparked the Hussite Wars, today’s New City Hall is a 20th-century landmark that regularly hosts cultural exhibitions and public events, offering visitors a chance to explore Prague’s rich civic heritage beyond its famous medieval past.