This is undoubtedly the biggest crowd puller in Prague not for its fascinating history or its showcase of architectural styles but for the ornate astronomical clock that graces the front and has been pleasing crowds every hour on the hour for nearly 600 years.Staré Město (Old Town) was granted the right to a town hall in 1338 by King Jan Lucemburský (John of Luxembourg r.1310-46) at which point the budget minded burghers decided that instead of constructing a new building for the purpose they would just purchase a convenient merchant’s house, and so it was that the Gothic style corner house of one Wolfin of Kámin became the first Staroměstské Radnice although of course a number of minor cosmetic changes were required for the building to meet it’s new purpose.
- 1364: The large square stone tower is erected
- 1381: The small chapel with its oriole window in the eastern wall is consecrated.
- 1410: The ornate astronomical clock is set in motion
- 1480: Architect Matĕj Rejsek adds the Gothic stone portal and window.
As the hall needs to expand the series of brightly coloured merchants’ houses adjacent are purchased one by one, in 1450 the house of the shopkeeper Kříž is purchased and in 1520 it is given a renaissance window inscribed "Praga caput regni" ("Prague the capital of the kingdom"), in 1458 the house of the furrier Mikeš is purchased and in 1878 is rebuilt by architect Baum in Neo-Renaissance style, and so it continues right up until 1830 when the last house, known as "U Kahouta" ("At The Cock") is bought up and the hall fills the entire Western side of the square. In 1945 however the entire structure comes under bombardment from the Nazis as they flee the city the tower and chapel were damaged and the north and east wings were completely destroyed.
The interiors are open to the public and include a Romanesque hall, Renaissance frescos and the grand Council Chamber with its 15th century sculpture of Christ and Czech artist Vaćlav Brožík’s massive paintings of "Jan Hus before the Council of Constance" and "The Election of George Podĕbrady" that depicts an event that took place on this very spot in 1458. The reconstructed tower is climable and offers uninspired views of the square.
The Halls most spectacular feature however is its ornate astronomical clock. The 15th century astronomical clock draws quite a crowd every hour on the hour with its mechanical show that includes a procession of the 12 disciples, 4 figures representing the great bogeymen of the age; vanity (a figure staring into a mirror), greed (a money lender who had his stereotypical Jewish beard "shaved off" in a pique of political correctness in 1945), paganism (a turbaned Turk) and death (a menacing grim reaper) and a crowing cock.
While the hall interiors and tower aren’t really worth seeing the clock’s hourly chime is the best free show in Prague and is well worth waking up early, or braving the crowds, for.