The Queen Anne Summer Palace
A Renaissance pavilion with arcaded galleries and a green copper roof like an upturned hull — among the purest Italian Renaissance buildings north of the Alps.
Prazak — CC BY 2.5 · Paul Korecky — CC BY-SA 2.0 · ŠJů — CC BY 4.0
The Royal Garden runs north of Prague Castle, separated from its walls by the deep Stag Moat, crossed by a stone bridge. King Ferdinand I laid it out in 1534 in the Italian manner, making it one of the first Renaissance gardens in central Europe — and it is where, according to the widely repeated account, the first tulips to reach Europe from Istanbul were planted, before the flower travelled on to the Netherlands. At its eastern end stands the Queen Anne Summer Palace, or Belvedere, a mid-16th-century pavilion with arcaded galleries and a green copper roof shaped like an upturned ship's hull. It ranks among the purest Italian Renaissance buildings north of the Alps. In front of it is the bronze Singing Fountain: lean under its basin and you hear a faint ringing made by the water drops striking the bronze — the detail that gives it its name. The garden is entirely free, but seasonal, closing in the winter months. Walking it is quiet and level and far less crowded than the castle courtyards metres away. Enter from the north through the gate on U Prašného mostu, and come out directly into the castle's second courtyard.
A Renaissance pavilion with arcaded galleries and a green copper roof like an upturned hull — among the purest Italian Renaissance buildings north of the Alps.
Lean under the bronze basin to hear the faint ringing the drops make — a detail missed by everyone who stays upright.
The deep ravine between garden and castle walls, crossed by a stone bridge, with a small wood inside the city below.
The commonly told account is that the first tulip bulbs from Istanbul were planted in this garden in the 16th century and spread west from there. Historians differ on the details, but the role of the Vienna and Prague courts in bringing tulips to Europe is broadly documented.
Best as your first stop: get off the tram at Pražský hrad, enter the north gate before 9.30, walk the garden while it is empty, then cross into the second courtyard as the ticket windows open.
The South Gardens are a narrow terrace looking over the city; this is a broad, level garden of trees, lawns and a Renaissance palace — the first for the view, the second for walking and quiet. Both are free and seasonal.
It is used for temporary exhibitions and is not always open. Even closed it is worth standing in front of: the arcades and copper roof are the heart of its architectural value.
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A long building with a façade covered in sgraffito decoration — one of the finest Renaissance frontages in Prague.
North of Prague Castle, across the Powder Bridge, Prague 1