Prague Guide

The Louis Tract of the Old Royal Palace at the Prague Castle is easily recognisable - it protrudes a lot into the Garden on the Ramparts (Zahrada Na valech). It was built in the 16th century in the early-Renaissance style. There are interesting historical rooms inside, including the Bohemian Chancellery and the Hall of the Imperial Court Council.

Renaissance spaces of the Louis Tract

The Louis Tract is named after King Louis Jagellion, during whose reign it was built. The architect B. Ried finished it in 1520. The windows of the tract, in particular, have Renaissance features, and there is a valuable staircase inside.

The former Bohemian Chamber is situated in a room on the first floor. It was a bureaucratic office of the Emperor, disliked by the Czech estates, who had no influence on the office. The room next to the Bohemian Chamber was allegedly a prison of St. John of Nepomuk. There is a statue of him dating back to the beginning of the 18th century.

Bohemian Chancellery

The two rooms of the Bohemian Chancellery are situated on the second floor. The first room has the original Gothic tracery vault. There is a monogram of King Louis Jagellion on a Renaissance portal on the wall. The Bohemian Chancellery was a place from which vice-regents ruled the country, when the sovereign wasn't present. The Czech Protestant estates broke into the Chancellery in 1618 and threw the vice-regents out of the window - this was the start of the Thirty Years' War.

The third floor of the Louis Tract at Prague Castle contains the Hall of the Imperial Court Council. There are portraits of Habsburg monarchs who ruled the country between the 13th and the 18th centuries, and the furniture in the hall is from the 17th century. The Imperial Court Council used to sit in this hall during the reign of Emperor Rudolph II, and the 27 leaders of the Czech Estates Rebellion heard their death sentences there in 1621.