The vanished residence of Bohemian monarchs in Prague's Old Town from around 1380, on whose site the Municipal House now stands.*
King's Court was the seat of Bohemian monarchs in the Old Town of Prague, on the site of today's Municipal House.[1] The Royal Route to Prague Castle began there.[2]
History
King's Court was built around 1380 on the orders of King Wenceslas IV.[1] According to the Prague 1 city district, he began building it because the residence at Prague Castle no longer suited him.[2] The Monument Catalogue of the National Heritage Institute states that the court stood next to the Old Town gate from the 1370s, and that in 1447 and 1449 the gate was called the royal tower in the sources.[3] Six Bohemian monarchs resided in the court: Wenceslas IV, Sigismund of Luxembourg, Albert II of Habsburg, Ladislaus the Posthumous, George of Poděbrady and Vladislaus Jagiellon. Vladislaus Jagiellon moved the royal residence back to Prague Castle.[1] The peace embassy of King George of Poděbrady set out from the court.[2] Beside the court the New Tower, today's Powder Tower, was under construction from 1475.[2] In 1592 the spiral staircase of the tower was being altered.[3]
Later fortunes
After the Habsburgs took the throne, the court lost its importance. In the 17th century it housed an archbishop's seminary, which after a fire in 1689 was replaced by a new complex with the Church of St Adalbert. In 1776 the building was converted into barracks and later into a cadet school.[1] The Municipal House was built on the site of the former King's Court in 1905–1912.[1] Alois Jirásek wrote about King's Court in his unfinished novel Husitský král (The Hussite King).[2]