Bona Ventura

Walking routes · Prague

Cubist and Rondocubist Prague

Prague is where Cubism left painting and became buildings: Gočár's Rondocubist Legiobank, his House of the Black Madonna with the Cubist café and museum, Emil Králíček's 1913 Cubist lamp post, the Rondocubist Adria palace where Civic Forum had its HQ in 1989, and Josef Chochol's Cubist villa under Vyšehrad.

Best time: Daytime; the Grand Café Orient makes a mid-walk stop (hours not verified). Tram along the river from Národní divadlo to Výtoň shortens the last leg

The route, stop by stop

  1. 1
    Legiobanka (Bank of the Czechoslovak Legions), Na Poříčí 24

    Josef Gočár's Rondocubist bank house; the bank of the Czechoslovak Legions operated here 1919-1955. 10 min outside.

  2. 2
    House of the Black Madonna (Czech Cubism exhibition)

    Gočár's Cubist corner house, built 1911-1912 by Matěj Blecha's firm, named after the baroque Black Madonna on its corner. The first floor holds the Grand Café Orient with a balcony over Celetná; the upper floors house the Museum of Decorative Arts' Museum of Czech Cubism. 60 min.

    Josef Gočár's house of 1911-1912 is the earliest cubist building in Prague, and the Museum of Decorative Arts uses its upper floors for a Czech Cubism exhibition of furniture…

  3. 3
    Cubist lamp post, Jungmannovo náměstí

    Emil Králíček's 1913 street lamp in artificial stone, a protected monument and an icon of Cubist architecture, by the gate of the former church cemetery on Jungmannovo náměstí. 5 min.

  4. 4
    Palác Adria

    Rondocubist palace (1924-1925, Josef Zasche and Pavel Janák) on the corner of Národní and Jungmannovo náměstí. Its cinema hall housed Laterna Magika from 9 May 1959; Civic Forum had its main headquarters here in 1989; Divadlo Bez zábradlí has played here since 1998. 15 min.

    Built in 1924 on the corner of Jungmannovo náměstí and Národní, Palác Adria is the landmark of rondocubism, the 'national style' of the First Czechoslovak Republic, known for its…

  5. 5
    Kovařovicova vila (Kovařovic Villa), Libušina, Vyšehrad

    Josef Chochol's five-storey Cubist villa of 1912-1913 for Bedřich Kovařovic; a protected monument since 1958; the garden fence and windows were restored in the 1990s. The Cubist triple house on Rašínovo nábřeží and the Cubist apartment house on Neklanova street are nearby (both pictured on the same Wikipedia page; details not verified). Walk 2.2 km along the river or take a tram to Výtoň. 20 min outside.

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