Letohrádek Kinských, Hunting lodge and museum in Smíchov, Czech Republic
Letohrádek Kinských is a two-storey late-classicist suburban villa designed by Heinrich Koch and built in 1827–1831 in the Kinský Garden. Its main east facade has a portico on four Doric columns carrying a terrace, and a projecting bay with four pilasters and a triangular pediment pierced by three round-headed French windows.
The lodge was built when Prague's aristocracy was constructing summer homes in expanding districts to escape the crowded city center. It became part of a wave of classicist country houses that shaped Smichov's architecture during this period of growth.
The villa's name comes from the Kinský family, who used it as a summer residence until the 1870s; Princess Vilemína Alžběta Kinská often stayed here with her six children between 1836 and 1871. Guests included Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este. Since 1901 the building has housed the Ethnographic Museum, now part of the National Museum.
The site is located within a quiet park that is easily reached by tram, with a short walk from the nearest station to the main entrance. The grounds are flat and accessible, with paths through the park that are straightforward to follow.
The terrace of the first floor was aligned on an axis with Old Town Square, so that the Kinský Palace, the family's main residence, could be seen from it in the morning sun. Two white Carrara marble statues, Psyché and Vlasta, once decorated the staircase; Psyché, by Antonio Canova, was moved to Vienna before the villa was sold.
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