The Strahov Monastery

The Strahov Monastery, the seat of the Royal Premonstratensian Canonry, has stood below the Petřín Hill in the vicinity of Prague Castle for more than 850 years.

The second-oldest monastery in Prague, Strahov was founded high above Malá Strana in 1143 by Vladislav II. One of the most important achitectural monuments in Bohemia, which, despite numerous transformations in style, has retained its basic Romanesque lay-out.

It's still home to Premonstratensian monks, a scholarly order closely related to the Jesuits, and their dormitories and refectory are off-limits. The Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov is one of the oldest monasteries of the Premonstratensian Order in the world.

Places of interest in Strahov Monastery
What draws visitors are the monastery's ornate libraries , holding more than 125,000 volumes. Founded by King Vladislav II in 1140, the monastery features a remarkable monastery library with hundreds of thousands of volumes, including the Strahov Evangeliary dating from the 9th to the 10th centuries.

There are two splendidly decorated halls: the Theological Hall and the Philosophical Hall,

they are among the most beautiful spaces of their kind in Europe. The origin of the collections in the Strahov Library goes back to the 12 th century, when the Premonstratensian monastery was founded there. The development of the library was interrupted several times through the centuries: there was a big fire in 1258, then it was damaged by Hussite warriors in the 15 th century. Swedish troops invaded Prague in 1648 and they took many books to Sweden with them. After the Thirty Years´ War, the collected books were stored in a new hall – the present Theological Hall, built in the Baroque style. The Strahov Library was carefully kept then, so the collections stayed intact for hundreds of years. The Strahov Library gained many books in the 17 th and 18 th century, so it needed another hall to keep them. That´s why the present Philosophical Hall was built.

The Cabinet of Curiosities, brought to Strahov from the estate of Karel Jan Erben in 1798. It now houses natural science collections, mainly with sea fauna, complemented with collections of insects, minerals, and wax replicas of fruit, archaeological collections: ceramics, handcuffs, Hussite peasant weapons. A very appreciated curiosity is the remains of a Dodo bird (Dodo ineptus), now extinct. The Philosophical Hall, built in 1782, under Abbot Václav Mayer. It contains an impressive number of more than 42,000 volumes covering themes from philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, history, philology.

Worth visit is the Basilica of Our Lady, originally a romanesque basilica.

It was rebuilt in Gothic style after a fire in 1258. Two centuries later it was plundered by the Hussites and repaired in Renaissance style. After a bombardment by French troops in 1742 the church was repaired once again, this time in Baroque style. Has a richly decorated interior. The nave's 16 meter high vault features frescoes painted in 1774. The Strahov church also houses an organ on which Mozart played during his visit to the monastery in 1787.

Web site www.strahovskyklaster.cz