The Baroque library hall
A room from 1722 of gilded shelving, painted ceiling and astronomical globes — without exaggeration one of the world's most beautiful library halls.
VitVit — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ergane — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ergane — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ergane — CC BY-SA 3.0
Yes if architecture and books mean something to you: the library hall alone justifies the ticket and the tower is an excellent addition. If you only want a view, Prague has cheaper towers.
To protect the books and painted ceilings from light and movement, and because the hall is part of a working national library rather than an exhibit. You look from the threshold — and the whole room is visible from there.
Yes — English and Czech tours run at published times. There are no Arabic tours, but the English commentary is clear and concise and easy to follow.
Yes — the Clementinum courtyards are open to walk through at no charge, and they make a quiet shortcut between the Old Town Square and Charles Bridge that most visitors never find.
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The Clementinum is a vast complex filling an entire block between Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square, past which thousands of visitors walk daily without knowing what is inside. It began as a Jesuit college in 1556 and grew over two centuries into the second-largest building complex in Prague after the castle, taking in a university, an astronomical observatory, libraries and churches. Today it houses the Czech National Library. The heart of a visit is the Baroque library hall of 1722: gilded wooden shelving floor to ceiling, a fully painted ceiling, huge terrestrial and celestial globes down the middle, and books still arranged as the Jesuits arranged them. You are not allowed into the hall itself or to photograph inside it — you stand at the threshold and look — and it is nonetheless among the most beautiful rooms you will ever see. The tour ends with the Astronomical Tower: a narrow stair past the old observation rooms and their instruments, then an open gallery turning a full 360 degrees over the Old Town roofs — a view from the centre rather than the edge, which is exactly its value. Entry is by guided tour at set times only, so book or come early.
A room from 1722 of gilded shelving, painted ceiling and astronomical globes — without exaggeration one of the world's most beautiful library halls.
An 18th-century observatory with its original instruments, and a gallery looking 360 degrees over the Old Town roofs from their centre.
A small chapel of mirrored walls and gilt ornament, used for evening classical concerts.
Weather has been measured from this tower without interruption since 1775 — one of the longest continuous climate series anywhere.
Mariánské náměstí 190/5, Old Town, Prague 1