The Strahov Monastery was founded in 1140 by Prince Vladislav II. This Premonstratensian monastery, Prague’s second oldest religious house, stands on Petrin Hill overlooking the Mala Strana valley and in 1360, when the Hunger Wall was built around Hradaany, it was incorporated into the boundaries of the town. Few traces of its early history remain for the visitor to see today (there are three preserved Romanesque rooms in the western part of the convent); the building has undergone a good deal of building, restyling and reconstruction down through the centuries. During the battles between the French and Austrian armies in 1741 it suffered severe damage. Much of its present appearance is the result of the reconstruction that consequently took place.
What draws most visitors to this place are the magnificent libraries which form part of the Pamatnik Narodniho PIsemnictvi (Museum of Czech Literature). The two library halls, the Theological Hall and the Philosophical Hall, were built nearly a century apart; the Theological Hall in 1671 by Giovanni Orsi and the Philosophical Hall in 1783 by the architect I Palliardi Both house parts of the huge collection that represents literary development from as early as the 9th century until the 18th century. Over 130,000 volumes, 2,500 early printed books (incunabula) and 5,000 manuscripts are kept here; included among the numerous literary curiosities are books prohibited over the centuries by the Catholic Church. Don’t expect to see too many lurid covers however! One of the most valuable manuscripts is the 9th/10th-century Strahov Gospel Book, still one of the oldest in existence in Central Europe.
The Strahov Herbarium, a Latin dictionary and medical books date back to the 15th century and large stocks of books from many Bohemian religious houses dissolved after the World War II have also found their way into the Strahov Library.
Visitors to the museum can also see a reconstructed 17th-century printing press. It was during the librarianship of J B Dlabaa (1758-1820) that the monastery gained its reputation as a centre of Czech education and culture. Quite apart from the astounding literary collection, both library halls are architectural masterpieces, The walls of the vast 46 foot (14m)-high Philosophical Hall, the most famous of Prague’s neoclassical monuments, are lined with finely carved bookcases by J Lachovfer, brought here from the abolished Premonstratensian monastery Bruch Abbey in Southern Moravia. Its ceiling is decorated with a stunning rococo fresco by A Maulpertsch (1794).
S Nosecky, a Strahov monk, painted the ceiling frescos in the earlier Theological Hall between 1723 and 1727; a series of 17th-century geographical and astral globes are displayed in this room.
Before it was abolished in 1784, the parish church of Strahov was the Church of St Roch which stands in the forecourt of the monastery complex. Mozart played the organ here.
Poetry readings, concerts and temporary exhibitions are now regular features of the museum. Open: Tuesday to Sunday 09.00 to 17.00 hrs. Closed: Monday.