About the location
The National Museum (NM) is the most important Czech museum institution. Sometimes this term is also used for its main building in Wilsonova Street in Prague, which has been closed for 4 years since July 2011 due to reconstruction
In Prague, a city full of artistic monuments, there are several buildings of special importance. These buildings should be visited by every Czech at least once in their lifetime. One of them is the monumental building of the National Museum No. 1700, which controls the entire upper part of Wenceslas Square.
The National Museum as an institution was founded on 15 April 1818 as a private scientific institute on the initiative of two enlightened Czech aristocrats. They were Kašpar Maria Count Šternberk and František Antonín Count Kolovrat – Libštejnský. At that time, it was still under the name of the Society of the Patriotic Museum in Bohemia and only later, in 1854, the name Museum of the Kingdom of Bohemia was created. Soon the museum became an important centre of national revival and played an important role in the cultural life of the nation.
However, the museum’s own, beautiful Neo-Renaissance building was not built until 1885-1890 according to the design of architect Josef Schulz, who won the competition. The construction was managed by architect Čeněk Gregor. Great attention was paid to the artistic decoration of the building, including the most important space, the Pantheon – the national sanctuary, whose ground plan consists of a square of 400 m2.
The new building of the National Museum was inaugurated on May 18, 1891. Its size was astonishing. After all, the length of the façade is 104 m, the width of the building is 74 m and the height from the water surface of the fountain to the top of the dome is 69 m. At the time of completion of the construction, there were 39 exhibition halls and the number of rooms was 235.
It is the massive tower-like glass dome that draws attention to the position of the National Museum when viewed from a distance. The dome is decorated with a lantern and a poppy at its top. A modified staircase leads to the lantern and those who climb up to the top are rewarded with a completely unique view.
