From this angle, take a closer look at the beautiful, protruding bay window on the tower known as an oriel.
This oriel belongs to the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, consecrated in 1381. It was built by the workshop of Peter Parler, a famous master builder whose name you might hear quite a bit in this city.
Inside the tower, above the chapel, there was once a bell used to summon the council, which had a rather dramatic end.
That brings us to the darker chapter of this landmark. In May 1945, during the final days of World War II, the Old Town Hall became a headquarters for the Czech resistance during the Prague Uprising. On May 8th, mere hours before the German surrender was signed, the building came under heavy shelling from German tanks. A massive fire broke out. The destruction was catastrophic. The bell I mentioned crashed down from the tower and melted from the intense heat. A precious city archive, documenting centuries of Prague’s history, was turned to ash.
The fire completely destroyed a large Neo-Gothic wing that used to stand on the north side of the complex. If you look at the site today, you might notice an open space or park area where a building seems like it should be. That gap is a scar from the war. Since the late 19th century and continuing well after the fire, there have been at least eight different architectural competitions to design a replacement for that wing. Architects have argued over it in 1905, 1947, 1966, and even 1988. Yet, every single competition either ended without a winner or produced a design that was never built. It seems the city simply cannot agree on how to fill the void, so the space remains empty.
More recently, between 2017 and 2018, the surviving tower and facade underwent a massive renovation costing a fortune to restore their authentic look, ensuring that what remains of this patchwork complex stands strong.
It is a resilient witness to the city's turbulent past, wearing its history in its mismatched architecture. When you are ready, we can head to the next stop.
