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At Prague Castle, in the shade of the proud palaces and haughty cathedral is a hidden enclave contrasting with the splendour of the residential seat of the czech kings. It creates its own peculiar, separate little world, bizarre, mysterious and poetic. It is Golden Street with its tiny buildings glued into the arches of the old Gothic ramparts.
Sixteen houses in thes dead end street, which remain preserved, are from the time of Rudolf II. They are embellished with tales and secrets, the same as the whole era of Rudolf's reign. Historians are still arguing about the origin and purpose of these little houses, even today.
Although Golden Street may tell us many things, it has not given away the clue to the mystery surrounding it. At the end of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th century whole Prague was enveloped in a mysterious haze. The strange and unreliable recluse, the cultivated Rudolf II von Habsburg made Prague a residenial city once more and at the same time a place of fantastic tales. He was more interested in art and science than in his responsibilities as a ruler. At the Castle he gathered a collection of immeasurable value and stimulated artistic creation and scientific research. Most of all he was interested in astronomy, astrology and alchemy. Especially in the latter one.
In his time alchemy was considered to be the most important of sciences. The Emperor concentrated on this science and he himself was seen as an expert in his profession. The basic principle of alchemy was the beliefe, drawing upon Aristotle's teachings concerning the nature of matter and the cosmos in connection with Arabic ideas about the characteristics of certain substances, that by combining the four elements - earth, air, water and fire and the three substances - sulphur, salt and mercury (quicksilver) - it is possible, under exact astronomical conditions, to acquire the Life Elixir, the Stone of the Philosophers and gold. Many were totally preoccupied with this search either for physical wellbeing or to gain power. Even more deliberately and deceitfully proclaimed that they could do it. Thanks to the loyal imperial support, Rudolf's court was the gathering place of both types. It is widely believed that they lived in Golden Street.
The name of the street would have emerged because of those "makers" of the precious metal. This romantic and poetic story is, unfortunately, not historically proven. The most likely legend says that all kinds of simple craftsmen, salesmen and servants settled in this street and built their own provisional dwelling. Among them were also Castle fusiliers working as the household troops and prison guards in the towers. It is not impossible that there lived a goldsmith among the inhabitants of Golden Street, who then gave it its name. And from this might have developed the legend about alchemists producing gold. Furthermore, every alchemist who fell out of imperial favour, ended up in prison in the White Tower (Bílá vez) which rises above the west side of the street. Even so famous a master of alchemy such as the Englishman Edward Kelly was first rewarded with wealth and a noble title, but later also got a taste of being locked up between airtight dungeon walls. The same thing happened to the German Master Filip Jacob Gurstenhofer too.
