Platýz, Renaissance palace in Old Town, Czech Republic
Platýz is a palace in Prague's Old Town featuring four wings arranged around a spacious inner courtyard with multiple street-level entrances. The building blends Gothic foundations with Renaissance design and now contains shops, restaurants, and cafes throughout its connected spaces and passages.
The site began as a royal settlement in 1347 when three townhouses were combined under Count Frederick of Burgundy. During the 1500s the Platejs family and their connections to Emperor Rudolf II's court transformed the property into the Renaissance complex visible today.
The palace takes its name from the Platejs family who shaped its appearance during the Renaissance period, and its layout reflects how Prague's merchant class once organized their residences around shared courtyards.
The palace is easy to reach from multiple streets and features several open passages that make it simple to explore the inner courtyards and connected spaces. Visitors can enter through any of the available doorways and wander freely through the grounds without pressure or restrictions.
A large metal owl sculpture adorns one of the main gateways and has marked this location for centuries, originally connected to the area's history as a coal trading zone. This unusual emblem bridges the site's former market function with its modern commercial role.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
