Old Town Hall (Prague)

The Old Town Hall in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is one of the city's most noteworthy monuments. It is located in Old Town Square.

In 1338 the councilors of the Old Town bought a magnificent patrician house by the family of Volflin and adapted it for their purposes. During centuries the original building of the Town Hall practically disappeared under the addition reconstructions of later years and one of the external remnat of the original structure today is the Gothic stone portal with mouldings in the western part of the building.

The burghers of the Old Town extended their original Town Hall towards the west by buying the adjoining house and they started the construction of a stone tower on a square plan. The tower, which was the highest in the city in the Middle Ages, was completed in 1364 and the following centuries hardly left any traces on the structure.

The Town Hall is one very unusual historical object, because it is made out of many different smaller houses. The expansion continued in 1458 when so called "Mikes' house" was added to the west side. The Council Chamber in the east wing was vaulted with the net vault, which was supported with 2 pillars, at the end of the 15th century.

The Gothic "Cock" house was bought in 1835 and the "Minute" house was sold to the town council for the extension of the Town Hall in 1896. Mikes house was rebuilt in Neo-Renaissance style in 1879–1880. The author of the project was Antonín Baum. This wing was destroyed in last days of the World War II during Prague uprising. Many architectural competitions were declared during the 20th century. They were supposed to find the right architectonic design for expanding and rebuilding the Old Town Hall. All of the competitions either did not have a winner or the winning projects were not built.

The architectural development of the Old Town Hall in the Middle Ages was far from completed after finishing of the tower. There was an interruption due to Hussite movement (1419–1434). In 1458 another house was bought on the west side. It made possible extensive adaptations of the interior of the object. New halls were established in the south wing, but only the council room on the upper floor has preserved in its original appearance.

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Wikipedia