Clementinum
A Jesuit college holding a baroque library hall and an astronomical tower
- Area Staré Město
- Type Landmark
- Time needed 1h
The Clementinum is a Jesuit college complex off Karlova, a few steps from the Old Town end of Charles Bridge, and it covers most of a city block. The parts open to visitors are the Baroque Library Hall of 1722, the Meridian Hall and the Astronomical Tower, all seen on one short guided tour. It is also the site of the longest continuous weather record in central Europe, kept here since the late eighteenth century.
Open in the planner →Getting there
Metro line A (green) to Staroměstská, then three or four minutes south on foot. From the Old Town Square it is a five to eight minute walk down Karlova, the crowded lane that leads to Charles Bridge; the entrance is on the right as you go, and it is easy to walk past. Trams 2, 17 and 18 stop at Staroměstská as well. Once inside the courtyard the tour meeting point is signed, and the only climb is the tower stair, which is long and spiral.
What you see
The tour starts in the Baroque Library Hall, which you view from a roped position just inside the door: walnut galleries, a ceiling fresco of the allegorical temple of wisdom, and rows of large geographical and astronomical globes down the centre of the floor. From there you go up through the Meridian Hall, a long room with a line let into the floor and small holes in the wall that were used to fix local noon before the age of standard time; the astronomical instruments on display are the real ones. The stair then climbs the Astronomical Tower, past storage levels, to a gallery at the top. The view is the one that makes the visit: you are high enough to look across the Old Town roofs to the Týn spires on one side and the Castle on the other, and low enough to see the detail of the streets.
What to pair it with
Charles Bridge is two minutes away, the Old Town Square five. The synagogues of Josefov are a ten minute walk north, so the Clementinum fits well at the start or end of a Jewish Quarter morning.
When to go
Tours run through the day at set intervals; book a slot online or at the desk, and go early if you want the tower gallery without a queue of people waiting their turn on the stair. Clear weather is the deciding factor for the view. Autumn and winter afternoons give the best light over the roofs. The Chapel of Mirrors in the same complex hosts concerts in the evenings, which is a separate ticket and a separate way in.
What is hard about it
You cannot see the library hall on your own, and you cannot walk into it at all — the viewing point is the doorway, which disappoints anyone expecting to stand among the books. Photography is not permitted inside the library hall, and the rule is enforced. Tours are timed and can sell out in season, and the English tour is not available at every slot, so check before you go. The tower is a long spiral stair with no lift and little room to pass, and it is not a realistic visit with a pushchair or with bad knees.
Common questions
How long do you need at the Clementinum?
The guided tour runs about an hour including the tower climb. Allow a little extra for the wait at the meeting point.
Can you photograph the library?
No. Photography is not allowed inside the Baroque Library Hall, though you can take pictures from the tower gallery.
Is the tower view better than the Old Town Hall tower?
It is lower and more intimate, with the Old Town roofs close below you. The Old Town Hall tower is better for looking down on the square itself.
Nearby
- Charles BridgeThirty baroque statues on a fourteenth-century stone bridge
- Prague astronomical clockThe 1410 clock on the Old Town Hall, with the apostles on the hour
- Old Town SquareThe medieval square the city turns around, ringed by gabled houses
- Church of Our Lady before TýnThe twin black spires over the Old Town Square
- Powder TowerThe Gothic gate where the coronation route began
- Municipal HouseArt nouveau at full volume, with a concert hall inside
More of the same kind
- Wenceslas SquareNot a square but a boulevard, and the stage for 1968 and 1989
- Golden LaneA row of tiny cottages built into the castle wall
- Dancing HouseGehry and Milunic's curved pair on the embankment
- Lennon WallA graffiti wall repainted continuously since 1980