Velkopřevorský palác Praha
- Classification
- Palace
- Country
- Czechia
- Region
- Praha
- Address
- Suverénní řád Maltézských rytířů - České velkopřevorství Velkopřevorské náměstí 485/4, 118 00 Praha 1
Among the most distinctive buildings within the palaces of Prague's Malá Strana (Lesser Town) is unquestionably the Grand Prior's Palace, situated on the corner of Lázeňská Street and Grand Prior's Square in the immediate vicinity of the Church of Our Lady below the Chain. The Hospitaller complex in this location came into being after the mid-12th century under King Vladislaus I; even before the founding of the Lesser Town of Prague (1257) it formed a fortified precinct demarcating a special legal area (a so-called lateral jurisdiction). It played an important role in the life of medieval Prague — among other things, in 1378 the relics of Emperor Charles IV were laid out in the adjacent convent church, and in 1393 Wenceslaus IV captured Jan of Pomuk here. At the very beginning of the Hussite Wars the Praguers captured and plundered the Hospitaller complex, so that for the next more than 250 years the Grand Priors resided in Strakonice. The structural restoration of the destroyed Grand Priory was a very lengthy process, reflecting in turn the Renaissance and particularly the High Baroque, which unified the previously separately standing buildings of the priory and the Grand Priory. The most significant reconstruction took place in the 1720s to plans by the Milanese architect Bartolomeo Scotti. It imparted to the palace its present characteristic form as a four-wing building with a central courtyard decorated by a dominant portal and prominent roof dormer windows. The interior was also conceived in the Baroque spirit, and thanks to the continuity of Hospitaller ownership remained unchanged until the mid-20th century. Following nationalisation, several institutions were housed here (the Oriental Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, the Music Department of the National Museum); the adjacent garden began to be used for musical and theatrical performances. In 1991 the Hospitallers — the Knights of Malta (officially the Czech Grand Priory — the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta) — recovered the palace and convent in restitution and simultaneously installed their diplomatic representation there.