Prague - The Lesser Town
Malá Strana ( Lesser Town ) can be found in the area under Petřín and Prague Castle. In the 8th century, a mercantile settlement existed for a few hundred years, until Prince Břetislav moved the Jewish settlers to the other side of the Vltava in the 11th century. The Lesser Town became the residential town for Bohemian nobility and foreign envoys. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is the home to many embassies today.
The Lesser Town obtained municipal privileges from Přemysl Otakar II. in 1257. Its centre at that time was Malostranské náměstí ( Lesser Town Square ) with the Church of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas Church and its adjacent Jesuit College represents the most monumental religious building of the Prague Baroque.
The originally Protestant Church of the Most Holy Trinity, handed over to the Catholics after the lost uprising and dedicated to Our Lady of Victory, was the first Baroque church in Prague. In 1628, it became the home of the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague.
The Augustinian St. Thomas Church conceals a Baroque treasure in the shape of an altar by Peter Paul Rubens, commissioned in 1636. This altar is accessible to the public.
The magnificence of baroque palaces, such as Thunovský Palace built in 1726 in Nerudova Street, and the charm of baroque gardens such as the Vrbovská Garden with statues from 1730, or the Ledeburská Garden made in 1720, attracted many dignitaries such as Prince Albrecht of Wallenstein. He made use of the Post - White Mountain confiscation of Protestant Property to build his imposing residence of 22 houses, a brickworks and several gardens to form the Albrecht of Wallenstein Palace in the early 17th century. Today, it is the home of the Czech House of Parliament. The Swedes plundered the wonderful Wallentein garden, decorated with bronze statues made by Adrien de Vries, in 1648. The original statues are now in Drottningholm, Sweden; what you see are copies.
