Strahov Monastery

A hilltop abbey with two of the great baroque library halls

Area Hradčany
Type Church
Time needed 1h 15m

Strahov Monastery — Photograph: Matěj Baťha / CC BY-SA 2.0

Strahov is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 on the hill above Malá Strana, at the top of Hradčany beyond the Castle. It holds two baroque library halls, the Theological Hall of the 1670s and the larger Philosophical Hall completed in the 1790s, which together are the reason almost everyone comes. The terrace outside the gate also gives one of the best wide views over the city, and there is a brewery in the monastery courtyard.

Open in the planner →

Getting there

Trams 22 and 23 to Pohořelec are the way to do it; from the stop it is a flat three minute walk back and through the monastery gate. From the Old Town Square allow about thirty to thirty-five minutes in total, walking to a tram at Malostranská or Národní divadlo and riding up. On foot from Malá Strana it is a hard twenty-five minute climb up Úvoz, which rises steeply the whole way. Coming from Prague Castle you can walk along Loretánská and Pohořelec in about twelve minutes, mostly level. The funicular to Petřín and a walk along the ridge is a pleasant alternative approach.

What you see

Go through the gate into the main courtyard, with the Basilica of the Assumption on your left — it is free to enter and worth five minutes for the painted nave and the organ Mozart is said to have played. The library entrance is in the building opposite. Inside, you go first to the connecting corridor, which is the part people underrate: glass cases of a seventeenth and eighteenth century cabinet of curiosities, with dried sea creatures, a narwhal tusk, minerals, and shrivelled specimens, plus a set of wooden boxes containing tree samples. Then the Theological Hall, a low barrel-vaulted room with white stucco frames around the ceiling paintings, astronomical globes on the floor and a reading wheel. Then the Philosophical Hall, much taller, two storeys of walnut shelving with a gallery, and a ceiling fresco of the history of human knowledge. Afterwards walk out to the terrace by the gate for the view, which takes in the Castle, the river and the whole Old Town.

What to pair it with

Prague Castle and Loreta are twelve minutes along the ridge to the east. Petřín Hill, its tower and the mirror maze are a ten minute walk through the orchards to the south-east.

When to go

Early morning, within the first hour of opening, is the only reliable way to get the library halls without a queue of people behind you at the doorway. Late afternoon light on the terrace is the best view of the day, and sunset there is excellent. The monastery stays open all year and the halls are indoors, so winter works. Expect coach groups through the middle of the day in season.

What is hard about it

You do not go into either library hall. Both are viewed from the doorway behind a barrier, because of the damage that visitor humidity does to the books, and this disappoints a great many people who have come specifically to stand among the shelves. In practice you get a minute or two at each door with others waiting. The ceilings are far away and dim, and ordinary photographs rarely do them justice; there is normally an extra charge if you want to photograph at all. The halls are also small to look at from one fixed point, so the whole library visit can be over in twenty-five minutes, which feels thin for the ticket. The picture gallery is a separate ticket. It is a hill, and arriving on foot from the river is a real climb.

Common questions

How long do you need at Strahov Monastery?

Allow about seventy-five minutes for the library, the basilica and the terrace view. The library itself takes under half an hour.

Can you walk into the library halls?

No. Both halls are viewed from the doorway behind a barrier; there is no access to the floor of either room.

Is Strahov worth the trip from the centre?

Yes if baroque interiors or the view interest you, and it combines easily with the Castle or Petřín. If you only want the famous library photograph, be aware you cannot take it from inside.