Waldstein Garden

The Wallenstein Garden is Prague's first and finest early Baroque palace garden, built 1623–30 for Albrecht von Wallenstein — imperial generalissimo and the wealthiest man in the Habsburg Empire — on the site of 26 demolished houses. The centrepiece is the Sala Terrena, a triple-arched open pavilion decorated with frescoes of the Trojan War by Baccio Bianco. Next to it stands an artificial grotto of lime-stucco stalactites, and an aviary. The garden's bronze statues by Dutch Mannerist sculptor Adriaen de Vries were looted by the Swedish army in 1648 and still stand at Drottningholm Palace — the figures seen today are early 20th-century copies. White peacocks roam freely. The palace itself now houses the Czech Senate. In summer the garden hosts open-air concerts and theatre performances.