Strahovský kláster (Strahov Monastery)

Strahovský kláster (Strahov Monastery) 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. (Note that the library is closed at this writing and scheduled to reopen in 2011.) 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, and a pub where you can sample the beer that the monks brew.