The Philosophical Hall
Ten-metre walnut shelving under a ceiling covered by a fresco on the history of knowledge — the room people come for.
Matěj Baťha — CC BY-SA 2.0 · donald judge — CC BY 2.0 · Satdeep Gill — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ricardalovesmonuments — CC BY-SA 4.0
Strahov is visually finer, less crowded, cheaper, and you enter when you like. The Clementinum adds an astronomical tower and a view, but runs on timed guided tours. For photographers and architecture lovers: Strahov first.
Tram 22 to Pohořelec: you arrive at the top and walk downhill for the rest of the day. Climbing on foot from the Lesser Town is genuinely steep and unnecessary.
It is a working monastery with a resident community and regular services; the church is open to visitors outside mass. Keep quiet and dress modestly inside it.
Walk down through the Strahov gardens and orchard south to Petřín hill and its tower, then take the funicular down to the Lesser Town. A quiet, shaded walk, entirely downhill.
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Strahov Monastery stands at the highest point above the Lesser Town, just west of Prague Castle, founded by Premonstratensian monks in 1143 — centuries older than the cathedral or Charles Bridge. It is still a working monastery with a community living in it, and its brewery has been running since the Middle Ages. The treasure here is the two libraries. The Philosophical Hall, from the end of the 18th century: walnut shelving rising ten metres to a ceiling carried by an enormous fresco on the history of human knowledge. The Theological Hall is older and warmer: white vaults ornamented in coloured stucco, with antique globes standing on the floor. Together they are among the most beautiful rooms ever built for books in Europe. As at the Clementinum, you stand at the threshold rather than entering, to protect the manuscripts. In the approach corridor is the Cabinet of Curiosities: a strange 17th-century collection of stuffed animals, shells, fossils and even the remains of a shark. Add to that the terrace in front of the monastery, with a view over all of Prague, and the neighbouring garden path that descends quietly towards Petřín.
Ten-metre walnut shelving under a ceiling covered by a fresco on the history of knowledge — the room people come for.
Older and warmer: white vaults in coloured stucco with great wooden globes standing on the floor.
A 17th-century collection of stuffed animals, shells, fossils and shark remains — science before it became science.
Directly in front of the monastery, over the whole of Prague from the highest point west of the castle — free, and one of the best sunset spots.
Strahovské nádvoří 1/132, Prague 1 — Hradčany