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The
space between
Prague Castle
and Strahov Monastery
remained for a long time undeveloped, except
for some lonely houses. The highest Viscount
of Prague Castle, Hynek Berka z Dubé founded
a little village there in the 14th century.
The word Hradcany means those who live at the castle. The middle-age gothic and renaissance Hradcany changed during the 17th and 18th centuries into a baroque village. Together with religious buildings, for example the Loretto, new palaces were constructed or old repaired: the Archbishop Palace, the Toscan Palace, the Sternberg Palace, etc. These palaces testify to the wealth and power of their owners. Also the square and the streets were in baroque style decorated with sculptures.
In the year 1784 the towns of Prague were joined in one city of Prague. Hradcany became one of the four town quarters. The centre of Hradcany is Hradcanské námestí. On its east side is the main entrance to the castle. The square was domain mostly for noblemen. On the south side are the two Schwarzenberg palaces (Svarcenberské paláce), the larger of which is built in the style of Florentine renaissance and decorated with graphite. At present this is the Museum of Military History.
The former monastery of Carmelites (Karmelitánský kláster) with the unpretentious Saint Benedict Church (Kostel svatého Benedikta) is connected to the palace. In the church is the curiosity of the mummified body of a nun. It sits in the nave of the church dressed as a sister and hidden behind a curtain. On the north side stands the lofty baroque renovated and later rococo decorated Archbishop Palace (Arcibiskupský palác). At the side of it there is a passageway to the baroque Sternberg Palace (Sternberský palác), where the collections of the National Gallery are exhibited. The Martinic Palace (Martinický palác) stands at the end of a row of formerly canonical houses. On the south side towers the early-baroque Toscan Palace (Toskánský palác), where presently there is a detachment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These buildings form the beautiful street Loretánská. At the beginning of this street stands the formerly Town Hall of Hradcany (Hradcanská radnice), built in renaissance style. Following the garden wall of the old Ursula Monastery (Kláster svaté Vorsily), one arrives at the interesting baroque church of Saint John of Nepomuk (Kostel svatého Jana Nepomuckého). From here it is not far to the so called New World (Nový Svet), which used to be a suburb of Hradcany. It is a charming place with little houses where the most simple people used to live.
