Today I’ll be accompanying you on your visit to the Loreto Sanctuary, one of the most delightful Baroque buildings in Prague, in the heart of the monumental Hradcany district. It is near the Castle, which it is linked to by a road on which you can see the sixteenth-century Hradcany Town Hall. On the same street once stood the house of Peter Parler, the architect who designed the Cathedral and Charles Bridge.
The sanctuary dominates Loreto Square with its lively shapes, slender central tower and pale plasterwork. This is one of the most beautiful squares in Prague, and is the heart of the Hradcany district, outside the Castle. The huge sloping space, with a large flower bed in the center, was created in 1703, when the area was cleared of tumbledown houses and an old cemetery.
On the stroke of every hour, you can hear a hymn played by the famous 27-bell carillon in the tower of the sanctuary. Also looking onto the square is the simple Capuchin Church, dating to 1601.
On the western side, opposite the sanctuary, a splendid backdrop is formed by the grand 150-meter-long façade of the Czernin Palace, built by Italian architects during the 17th century and today home to the Czech Foreign Ministry.
This magnificent building combines Late Renaissance elements, such as the imposing rusticated base, with Baroque solutions, such as the monumental sequence of massive Corinthian half-columns that mark the two upper floors. The capitals are decorated with distinctive grotesque faces.
To the right of the palace is the garden, accessible in summer, with the fine internal façade looking onto it.
An interesting fact: one of the most charming features of Prague is that magnificent monumental buildings alternate with delightfully romantic, atmospheric spots. The street that goes down to the right of the splendid Czernin Palace leads to the quiet, romantic little street called Novy svet, meaning “new world”, at the back of the Capuchin Convent. Flanked by old houses, it’s a popular walk for lovers.
