Strahov Monastery, Premonstratensian monastery in Hradčany, Czech Republic
Strahov Monastery is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 in Hradčany, Prague. Its core is the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, a Romanesque basilica later rebuilt in Gothic and Baroque forms, with a Baroque facade by Anselmo Lurago after the damage of 1742. Around the square paradise courtyard run cloisters vaulted with 32 fields of cross vaulting, and the grounds include the Theological Hall library of 1679 and the abbey buildings.
Founded in 1143 by Bishop Jindřich Zdík with Vladislaus II and his wife Gertrude, the abbey received Premonstratensian monks from Steinfeld in 1142, who built a Romanesque basilica where the founders were buried in 1150. Plundered by Prague citizens on 8 May 1420 during the Hussite Wars, it revived under Abbot Jan Lohelius from 1586 and was rebuilt in Baroque form after French and Prussian bombardment in 1742.
The monastery's Latin name, Mons Sion, refers to the biblical hill of King David; the Czech name Strahov likely comes from a settlement guarding the western road to Prague Castle. Since 1990 the Premonstratensian convent has been renewed, and the site also houses the Museum of Czech Literature.
Wear comfortable shoes since you will encounter stairs and uneven ground throughout the site. The location sits on a hill, so some areas require more climbing than others.
In the abbey dining hall hangs a cycle of six paintings of the life of Saint Norbert by Jan Jiří Hering, moved here from the main nave of the basilica and later from Milevsko. A plaster reconstruction of Norbert's head, modelled by anthropologists from his skull, is displayed nearby.
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