Mala Strana (Lesser Town)

Mala Strana is Prague's most beautiful neighborhood, and the reason it looks the way it does is catastrophe. In 1541, a massive fire swept through the district, destroying most of the medieval buildings on the slope between Prague Castle and the river. What replaced them — over the next two centuries — was an extraordinary collection of Baroque palaces, churches, and townhouses that gave Mala Strana its nickname: the Baroque Pearl of Prague.

King Ottokar II of Bohemia founded the district in 1257 as the "New Town beneath Prague Castle," settling it largely with German colonists. When Charles IV established his New Town on the opposite bank in 1348, this older new town became the "Lesser Town" — a diminutive name for a neighborhood that is anything but small in character. The narrow streets twist and climb the hillside, opening unexpectedly into hidden courtyards, pocket gardens, and stairways that lead to views you didn't know existed.

The centerpiece is St. Nicholas Church, a High Baroque masterpiece built by the father-and-son architects Christoph and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. The interior is overwhelming — a riot of frescoes, gilding, and marble that makes most Baroque churches look restrained by comparison. Mozart played the organ here in 1787 during his stay in Prague, and the church's acoustics still draw musicians for evening concerts.

Mala Strana is where Prague's diplomats live — embassies occupy many of the grand palaces — and where evening light hits the cobblestones at an angle that makes photographers weep. Come after dinner, when the tour groups have gone and the streets belong to the cats and the lamplighters.