Municipal House

If you want to understand what Art Nouveau looks like when an entire nation throws its best artists at a single building, the Municipal House is your answer. Built between 1905 and 1912, it was designed as the cultural heart of Czech civic life — a concert hall, gallery, and gathering place that would showcase Czech artistic talent in the most spectacular way possible. Every surface drips with decoration: mosaics, stained glass, metalwork, paintings, and sculptural detail by the greatest Czech artists of the era.

The building stands on the site of the former Royal Court, where Bohemian kings lived from 1383 to 1485 before moving back to Prague Castle. When the medieval buildings were demolished, the city decided to replace them with something that would make a statement about Czech national identity. Alphonse Mucha — yes, the same Mucha whose Art Nouveau posters are on tote bags worldwide — painted the Lord Mayor's Hall with allegorical scenes of Czech virtues and Slavic mythology. It's arguably his greatest work in any medium.

The Smetana Hall, the main concert venue inside, seats 1,200 and is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Its acoustics and decoration rival the great concert halls of Vienna and Budapest. The Prague Spring International Music Festival opens here every year on May 12, the anniversary of Smetana's death, with a performance of his "Ma Vlast" — "My Homeland."

On October 28, 1918, Czechoslovak independence was proclaimed from this building. The cafe on the ground floor serves coffee and cake in an interior so lavish that you feel like you should be wearing a hat and gloves. It's the most beautiful cafe in Prague, and that's saying something.