National Theatre, Prague

The National Theatre before you is Prague’s historic opera house, long treated as a national monument of Czech history and art. Its main home is Josef Zítek’s Neo-Renaissance design—a revival manner drawing on Renaissance forms—at Národní třída and Masaryk Embankment. Notice the winged Victory figures and chariots along the façade’s crown.

The theatre opened with Smetana’s Libuše in 1881, then fire badly damaged its dome, auditorium, and stage that August. Public response was extraordinary: a fresh appeal gathered a million florins in 47 days. Josef Schulz rebuilt it, preserving Zítek’s visual language while enlarging the complex. Since reopening in 1883, this has remained the historic stage for drama, opera, and ballet.