Old Royal Palace

The Old Royal Palace (Starý královský palác) is the oldest surviving part of Prague Castle and the seat of Bohemian rulers from the 10th century onward. The building is a composite of architectural layers spanning a thousand years: Romanesque cellars from the 12th century lie beneath Gothic halls built by Charles IV, which in turn sit below the palace's defining space — Vladislav Hall, completed by Benedikt Ried between 1487 and 1500. At 62 metres long and 16 metres wide, Vladislav Hall is the largest secular vaulted space in medieval Central Europe, its ceiling covered in an extraordinary late-Gothic ribbed vault that transitions seamlessly into early Renaissance window tracery. The hall has hosted coronation banquets, knightly jousting tournaments, and presidential elections, and still serves as the venue for the inauguration of Czech presidents today. Also inside is the Defenestration Window — through which two royal governors were thrown in 1618, sparking the Thirty Years' War.