Municipal House and Powder Tower

This is where the Royal Route began, the coronation procession that crossed the Old Town and the bridge up to the castle. And right here, the kings of Bohemia had their town residence: the King's Court, built by Wenceslas IV around 1380 and used until 1484.

1A gate left without a king

The tower was begun in 1475 as the New Gate, and the work soon passed to master builder Matěj Rejsek. But in 1483 King Vladislaus II moved to the castle and the town lost interest in finishing it. From the mid-18th century it served as a gunpowder store, which gave it its name. Its present look, more Gothic than the original, came from architect Josef Mocker between 1878 and 1886, who took the bridge tower as his model.

2A palace for a nation

On the site of the old royal court, the Municipal House rose between 1905 and 1912, designed by Antonín Balšánek and Osvald Polívka. It was a statement of Czech pride within the Austro-Hungarian Empire: the great artists of the day worked on its decoration, among them Alfons Mucha, who painted the Lord Mayor's Hall.

On 28 October 1918, the independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed in this building.

Today its main concert hall, Smetana Hall, hosts the opening of the Prague Spring music festival.

3What to look for

• The semicircular mosaic above the entrance, «Homage to Prague», after a design by Karel Špillar.
• The contrast between the tower's black stone and the gilded Art Nouveau.
• The tower's sculptures: kings and saints added in the 19th-century restoration.