What to see in the Mala Strana district in Prague, when and where it originated, who was its founder and how the expansion of what became the permanent residence of noble and wealthy families occurred.
Tourist information
The origins of Mala Strana date back to the year 1257 when King Otakar II Premysl wanted to settle the German colonists on the left bank of the Vltava river, precisely at the point between the hills of Hradcany and Petrin.
Under King Charles IV an impressive expansion of the urban fabric took place, the ancient churches were renovated and, in other cases, the fortifications and other works designed for the defense of the city were erected.
In the XV-XVI centuries, the Mala Strana district was severely damaged by fires, which is why, subsequently, a huge reconstruction and expansion work began, which actually led to the transformation of Mala Strana into a prestigious residential district.
Noble and wealthy, after settling permanently in Mala Strana, they enriched the neighborhood with sumptuous palaces and wonderful churches.
The charm of Mala Strana was also accentuated by the fact that the path of the coronation of the Bohemian sovereigns took place along its streets.
What see
The ancient center of the Mala Strana district is divided into two small squares, overlooked by buildings of considerable architectural value.
In the upper square is the eighteenth-century Colonna della Peste, with sculptures that reproduce the SS. Trinity and patron saints of Bohemia.
Among the buildings that deserve to be remembered, there is the Kaiserstejn Palace, built in the first half of the seventeenth century and deriving from the unification of pre-existing Gothic residences, the Rococo-style stone house, the Liechtenstein Palace, dating from the late sixteenth century century, the City Hall of the late Renaissance period, with the characteristic plaque on the facade in memory of the promulgation of the Confessio Bohema in 1575.
