Czech-ing out Prague – A Baroque Gem, The Vrtba Gardens

Vrtba Gardens, Prague. Click on image to enlarge. Photograph © Nord Wennerstrom.

Tucked away behind a discreet entrance in Prague’s Malá Strana (Little Quarter) is the glorious Vrtba Gardens, one of the city’s most important baroque gardens that brilliantly utilizes a small parcel to extraordinary effect.  The Italian-style terrace garden was built in 1715-1720 from a design by Prague-born František Maxmilián Kaňka for Jan Joseph, earl of Vrtba.

Vrtba Gardens, Prague. Click on image to enlarge. Photograph © Nord Wennerstrom.

The garden also features an elaborately features, numerous and exuberant statues of allegorical figures, and superb views of the city.  For a real treat, stand at the top of the garden beginning at 5:45PM when the bells of the great St. Vitus Cathedral in the nearby Prague Castle complex begin to chime.

Vrtba Gardens, Prague. Click on image to enlarge. Photograph © Nord Wennerstrom.

Frescos at Vrtba Gardens, Prague. Click on image to enlarge. Photograph © Nord Wennerstrom.