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Strahovsky klaster Review

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Strahovský kláster

Address: Strahovské nádvorí 1/132, Hradcany, Prague, Bohemia
Phone: 220-517-278

Strahov Monastery

Category: Museums/Galleries, Religious Sites
Location: Hradcany

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Fodor's Review:

Founded by the Premonstratensian order in 1140, the monastery remained theirs until 1952, when the Communists suppressed all religious orders and turned the entire complex into the Památník národního písemnictví (Museum of National Literature). The major building of interest is the Strahov Library, with its collection of early Czech manuscripts, the 10th-century Strahov New Testament, and the collected works of famed Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Also of note is the late-18th-century Philosophical Hall. Its ceilings are engulfed in a startling sky-blue fresco that depicts an unusual cast of characters, including Socrates' nagging wife, Xanthippe; Greek astronomer Thales, with his trusty telescope; and a collection of Greek philosophers mingling with Descartes, Diderot, and Voltaire. On the premises is the order's small art gallery, highlighted by late-Gothic altars and paintings from Rudolf II's time.

Cost: 80 Kc
Open: Gallery Tues.-Sun. 9-noon and 12:30-5; library daily 9-noon and 1-5

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