Hartigovský palác, Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, Czech Republic.
Hartigovský palác is a three-story baroque palace on Malostranské náměstí in Malá Strana, Prague, with an irregular plan and two inner courtyards. Its north-facing main facade onto the square is asymmetrical and richly decorated, while the larger south facade on Tržiště street is simpler; its oldest element is a Renaissance rusticated portal right of the public passage entrance.
Two Gothic houses on this site were joined in 1645, and the lane between them became the passage linking Malostranské náměstí with Tržiště street. After 1701 Giovanni Battista Alliprandi designed a Baroque rebuild, completed by František Maxmilián Kaňka for Anna Josefa Černínová, who bought it in 1722. The Hartig family held it from 1735 to 1821; John Parish Senftenberg bought it in 1827, and the Bohemian Provincial Fund acquired it in 1873.
The palace carries several names: Hartigovský after Terezie Hartigová, who acquired it in 1735, Senftenberský after John Parish Senftenberg, buyer in 1827, and Zemský dům after its 1873 purchase for the Land Fund of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Since then it has housed the rectorate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
The palace stands at Malostranské náměstí 259/12; a ground-floor passage connects the square with Tržiště street, whose rear facade holds a Renaissance rusticated portal right of the passage entrance. The rectorate of the Academy of Performing Arts occupies the building, so interiors are not open as a sight.
Two unique mortar samples found at the base of a wooden structure in the foundations of the two Gothic houses on this site show that mortar was used in Prague as early as the 9th century.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,639 contributors worldwide.