Clam-Gallas Palace - Prague, Czech Republic - Picture Perfect Postcards on Waymarking.com

The one of the most beautiful Prague palaces is an example of unique, purely Viennese Baroque palace construction. It was built from 1713 on for a Neapolitan governor general Jan Václav Gallas, in place of a smaller palace and several burgess houses. The palace was built by Jan Dominik Canevalle according to a project of significant Vienna architect Jan Bernhard Fischer of Erlach. When J. V. Gallas died in 1719, the construction was continued by his heir Filip Josef, who concluded a contract for painting decorations in the palace with an excellent Italian painter Carlo Carlone. In 1757, the Gallas family died out and the palace was inherited by the son of Gallas’ sister Kristián Filip of Clam. Thus both the names were connected and a family of Clam-Gallas came into existence.

The overall appearance of the building was motivated by antique mythology. A monumental representative palace complex included a four-wing two-storied building around a square yard, with a front and two portals and a rear wing reaching all the way to the square Malé námestí. The palace building is a perfect example of a monumental construction in tight medieval development. Sculptural work was carried out by the workshop of Matyáš Bernard Braun: statues of giants by both the portals at the front and panels representing Hercules’ actions, two vases with playing little angels, the statue of Triton on the fountain at the yard, and original thirteen statues at the palace’s attics, of which most had to be taken down due to bad state as early as in 1880. The palace staircase is remarkable with its decoration and beautiful balustrade. Well-known statue of Vltava named Terezka by Václav Práchner is located within the wall by the small garden, established in 1800 in place of the former cemetery by the Virgin Mary Church at Louže (today accessible from the Mariánské Square).

At the time of the greatest prosperity, balls and concerts were held here. The palace was often visited by famous guests, such as Mozart with his wife Constance and Josefina Dušková, supposedly a close friend of the Clam-Gallases. Even Beethoven performed here. When the owners were short of money for maintenance of the extensive property, they hired some of the premises to the authorities. When Franz Kafka completed the law studies, he started to work here as a trainee.

Physical Address: Prague, Czech Republic Description of Postcard Location: Clam-Gallas Palace Related Web Site: Not listed Parking Coordinates: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a Visit, please make every effort to supply an image of yourself at the site. The standard GPS photo may be used as well, or even just an image that you took when you visited the location. If you do not have the option to provide an image, please provide a detailed description of your visit so we can form a 'mental image'

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/22/2019 jokry visited it 11/04/2018 davidb11 visited it

View all visits/logs