Secrets of Prague Monasteries - Castle and Hradčany

Accept our invitation to visit places where extraordinary, even miraculous stories have been unfolding for centuries! Together we will discover the obvious and hidden beauty, the fascinating corners and secrets of the Benedictine monasteries near the Basilica of St. George, the barefoot Carmelites at the Church of St. Benedict, the Capuchins at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels with neighbouring Loreto and finally the Vorshilkas at the Church of St. John of Nepomuk.

The author says about the book: "The resolution to devote myself to monasteries as a travel writer and lover of history, architecture and art has been long in the making. I took this step after my colleague and friend Otomar Dvořák and I finished the book Landscape of Charles IV. (or With the Fatherland through Prague, Bohemia and Moravia). While working on it, my awareness of it was heightened, the fundamental role monasteries played in the development of art, education, but also the economy, administration and cultivation of the territory - of which this emperor and king was well aware, and that's why he founded them and supported them in every way possible.

My initial intention was to go to Prague; I intended to describe the local monasteries in two books, devoted to the left and right banks of the Vltava. I have set the beginning in the centre of Czech statehood - the Castle - and at the same time at our oldest monastery, St. However, once I immersed myself in the study of the sources and gathering of documents and added several monasteries in the area, it became clear to me that a book describing the entire left bank of Prague would be too voluminous. After some consideration, I have therefore decided to dedicate this volume to the four monasteries at Hrad Castle and Hradčany.

Right, we read about them a lot - from the perspective of once historical events, other times architecture, arts and crafts, then again of church history and religious life... I have studied a long series of sources and tried to connect the different aspects in the text, which is not only meant to be comprehensive and comprehensive, but also readable. And I added my view: how I see the monasteries and their shrines through the eyes of the enchanted pilgrim, who gazes in wonder at the great works created by hundreds of renowned artists and nameless masters, and appreciates what the monasteries have left us."