Strahov Monastery

Strahov was founded in 1143 and the Premonstratensians are still there, which makes it one of the oldest continuously used monasteries of the order anywhere. Its fame rests on two rooms. The Theological Hall of the 1670s is barrel-vaulted with stucco frames around ceiling paintings, lined with theological volumes and set with astronomical globes; the Philosophical Hall of the 1780s is taller, walnut-shelved to the ceiling with a gallery, and its vault carries Franz Anton Maulbertsch's fresco of the Spiritual Development of Mankind, painted in six months. Between them runs a corridor of cabinets holding the monastery's curiosity collection - shells, minerals, dried sea creatures, a narwhal tusk, two desiccated sharks - assembled in the eighteenth century. There is a picture gallery, an early Gothic church much rebuilt in baroque, and a brewery. The terrace outside gives one of the best views over the city.

What you actually see

• The Philosophical Hall - walnut shelves to the vault under Maulbertsch's fresco.
• The Theological Hall - barrel-vaulted, stuccoed, with astronomical globes.
• A cabinet of curiosities - shells, minerals, a narwhal tusk and dried sharks.
• A terrace view - over the whole of Prague from above Mala Strana.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The library halls are viewed from the doorways only - you cannot walk into them, which disappoints people expecting otherwise. Photography carries an extra fee. It is crowded and the queue moves slowly.

Nearby

Prague Castle is a short walk east; Petrin hill is south.