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Former Presidential House

During your tour in the Prague gardens don’t forget to visit a Queen Anne’s Summer Palace, and then you should have a look at the nearby singing fountain or interesting garden statues, as well as the building of the ball game hall. As good experts of the Prague Castle Royal Gardens you shouldn’t leave out the view of the presidential house, located in the south-western part of the park. You may know it is the villa of second prezident of Czechoslovakia  Dr. Eduard Benes. Both names refer to one and the same building, where all presidents of our country lived from 1938 to . Both names refer to one and the same building, where all presidents of our country lived from 1938 to 1989.

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A brief introduction
Originally, a Baroque Orangery was situated in the place of the presidential residence in the past. It was a very significant greenhouse and fortunately it didn’t fade away completely. From the original orangery is preserved a middle brick part in the form of arbor, built by K.I. Dienzenhofer, dating from 1731. During the building of the villa this part was also incorporated into the construction of the building in 1937-38. At that time, the villa had been building for the former president of the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Eduard Benes. Side glazed parts were destroyed during the bombing of Prussia and the present wings were built up during the reign of the president, T.G. Masaryk.

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Who actually did reside in the presidential villa in the royal gardens?
The architect Pavel Janak did a lot about designing of this building. As a component he used a fragment of older baroque buildings. Since 1938 the villa has become the seat of all former presidents of our country. However, the purpose of the building has begun to fade away in the recent years. It happened during the period when the president was Vaclav Havel and he didn’t use it very much as a presidential residence. By the way, even the current president Vaclav Klaus didn’t choose this presidential villa as his seat. Because of that this building has looked a little bit abandoned at the time of its non-use. Therefore, in connection with his habitation, president Vaclav Klaus has given instructions for adjustment and reconstruction of the Lumbe villa, situated in the north-western part of the Prague Castle.

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No entry, the president lives here!
At the time of socialism there was a gradual closing of the Royal Gardens. It was like that because at that time the villa was the real seat of the president. Therefore, the garden was closed because of security reasons, relating to the protection of the head of state. At the end of the eighties the gardens have been gradually opened and accessible to the public. However, the entire garden was not open, but only certain parts, such those with the Singing Fountain in front of the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace. Gradually more and more parts of the garden have been opened in the nineties of the twentieth century.

I believe that you will use the opportunity which many of your ancestors hadn’t had before, and you will visit not only the Royal Garden but also the president’s villa.

The Gardens of Prague Castle
open hours:
April: 10am – 6pm
May: 10am – 7pm
June: 10am – 9pm
July: 10am – 9pm
August: 10am – 8pm
September: 10am – 7pm
October: 10am – 6pm

Royal Garden is closed during winter season

Adress:
Prague Castle (Pražský hrad)
119 08 Prague 1 (119 08 Praha 1)

GPS: Loc: 50°5′23.591″N, 14°23′59.79″E

Public transport:
tram: number 1,8,15,18,20,22,26,
subway station , underground stop  –  Line A – Malostranská
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