Old Town Hall

The Old Town Hall in Prague is one of the city’s most visited monuments. It is located in Old Town Square. In 1338 the councillors of the Old Town bought a large patrician house from the Volflin family and adapted it for their purposes. Over the following centuries the original Town Hall building largely disappeared as a result of renovations and expansion of the building. One external remnant of the original structure still visible today is the Gothic stone portal with mouldings on the western side of the building. The burghers of the Old Town extended the original Town Hall towards the west by buying the adjoining house, and construction began 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 has been largely unchanged since then. The Town Hall is architecturally unusual, because it is constructed from many different smaller houses. The expansion continued in 1458 when Mikeš house was added to the west side. The Council Chamber in the east wing was vaulted with a net vault, supported by two pillars, at the end of the 15th century. The arrangement of the rooms is in keeping with the building’s imposing exterior appearance.