As tourists, we tend to make the mistake of assuming that any structure which looks suitably old is automatically ancient. It’s easy to walk around any city and make this mistake if you don’t know the specifics of what you’re looking at.

Warsaw, for example, has a beautiful old town. The signs of modernity are clear everywhere else, so it feels right to think of the old town as historical. The truth is that most of it was destroyed in World War II. The current old town is mainly rebuilt from scratch after the war. They did a great job of faithfully reproducing it, but it is no older than 1945.

Prague was spared such large-scale destruction during the war. It isn’t all mediaeval though, provided you look closely enough.

The Old Town is delineated by the location of the old protective walls.

I have written about the Powder Tower before.

The tower is one of the old entry points into the city which is still around today. Next to it, is the magnificent and resplendent Municipal House.

The building is a work of art in its own right. It is a popular spot with tourists who intentionally search for it, take selfies and attend concerts in the magnificent Smetana hall. (The hall, and the entire interior, is an incredible example of the best of art deco style).

People assume this is an old building – after all, there’s the medieval Powder Tower next to it, it’s part of the Old Town and the entire city is blessed with so many ancient monuments. It must be old, right?

Not quite.

In 1903, the city administration purchased this plot of land¹. It contained ruins of an old Royal Palace which had been used by Bohemian Kings in the past. It had long been abandoned for the main castle and had not been used in centuries. The city built this municipal house between 1905 and 1912 for itself.

This makes the building just over 100 years old.

Of course, I can’t fault tourists for thinking it’s older. But look closely at the allegorical figures that adorn the first-floor windows. As well as traditional allegories for science and art, there is the head of a man wearing a flying helmet and goggles. Clearly the designers were influenced by the modern fad for flying which was still in its infancy in 1912.

It’s a small detail, but it gives away the building’s age.

Do you know of majestic buildings in your city which aren’t as old as they seem? Leave a comment below and tell us about them!

References

1. Municipal House Interior; Obecnidum.cz; (Retrieved 2017-08-05) [↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.