Machoňova pasáž, Art Deco passage in Zelené Předměstí, Pardubice, Czech Republic
Machoňova pasáž is a five-storey building with a light beige facade, built 1924–1925 to Ladislav Machoň's design; a first-floor balcony divided into five parts breaks up the front. Its passage links the main street by the Zelená brána with třída Míru via ulice Za pasáží, and held 28 shops, a basement restaurant and 31 small flats.
The passage was built in 1924–1925 to a design by Ladislav Machoň on a site that held a Unity of the Brethren prayer house in the early 16th century; the property was confiscated by royal mandate in 1548. A house here was deliberately set on fire in 1639 as defence against approaching Swedish troops, and a courtyard built on the burnt site in 1665 burned down in 1835. Builders Antonín Kratochvíl and František Veselý bought the land in 1917 and commissioned the five-storey passage, approved in 1923 and opened in 1925.
Four sculptures by Karel Dvořák adorn the facade and show artistic skill from the period of construction. Inside, a wall painting by Alexandr Vladimír Hrska depicts various craftspeople at work, reflecting the daily occupations valued in that era.
The passage runs between Zelená brána and the Magnum Tower palace, crossing Za pasáží street to link Karlovina with třída Míru. It was closed for reconstruction from early 2011 and ceremonially reopened on 5 April 2013; the work cost the owner about 180 million CZK. A car park for dozens of vehicles now belongs to the building.
The original three-armed lights in the passage were replaced by fluorescent tubes around 1970 and thought lost, until 23 of the original chandeliers were found in the cellar on 5 January 1989. They were handed to the then owner, Bytový podnik Pardubice, but disappeared again in the early 1990s.
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