Petráš palace, Palace in Czechia

Petráš palace is a building in Olomouc created by joining two original houses and later significantly expanded. The structure combines Gothic elements with Renaissance and Baroque features, has an impressive stone portal with carved details, tall windows, and an interior courtyard with dark arcades.

Construction began in 1576 by joining two houses, with Renaissance and Baroque redesign following in the early 1600s. The palace saw further changes in the 1700s under new ownership and became a meeting place for scholarly circles, then passed through various owners until becoming a state-protected monument in 2001.

The palace is named after Anna Marie Petrášová, widow of an imperial general, who bought it in 1725 and had it rebuilt in Baroque style by 1734. Her son Josef founded the Societas eruditorum incognitorum here, the Habsburg Monarchy's first learned society, active from 1746 to 1751.

The palace is centrally located in Olomouc on the busy Horní náměstí street and is easily accessible on foot. Visitors should take time to view the facade and stonework from outside, particularly the carved details around windows and doors, and can explore the interior courtyard with its arcades when access is available.

The palace's baroque slate floors hold trace fossils, among them Spirodesmos spiralis, Lophoctenium comosum and Dictyodora liebeana. In 1976 fragments of Renaissance stove tiles with scenes from the Old and New Testament were found on the first floor.