NATIONAL THEATRE, National Theatre

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: the National Theatre in Prague.

The glistening balustrade on the blue and gold roof is one of the city’s most readily recognizable landmarks.

The National Theatre was built thanks to a group of patriots, who raised the funds among the population of Prague through donations from the noble classes, groups of workers and thousands of individual citizens. The building of the theatre thus played a fundamental role in establishing and consolidating the identity of Prague and of Bohemia.

Built on a design by Josef Zitek and completed in 1881, the theatre was almost completely destroyed by a fire in the summer of the same year, and did not reopen until 1883. This is why it was one of the first public buildings in Europe with electric lighting; it originally had gas lighting, considered dangerous following the fire....