Royal Garden

The Royal Garden is the most historically significant of all Prague Castle's gardens, founded in 1534 by Ferdinand I of Habsburg on the site of medieval vineyards north of the castle, separated from it by the Stag Moat. Originally inspired by Italian Renaissance design, it became famous for rare botanical specimens and exotic plants. The current layout follows an English landscape park style introduced in the mid-19th century, with surviving Renaissance and Baroque elements. The garden's two architectural highlights are the Royal Summer Palace (Belvedere) — a pure Renaissance loggia considered the finest Renaissance building north of the Alps — and the Ball Game Hall, both built for the entertainment of the Habsburg court. The Singing Fountain in front of the Summer Palace is one of the finest Renaissance fountains in Europe. The Orangery, the garden's youngest structure, was designed in 1999 by Czech architect Eva Jiřičná at the initiative of Olga Havlová — a 90-metre glass-and-steel tubular greenhouse that provides a striking contrast to the surrounding historic buildings.