Wallenstein Garden, Prague

Wallenstein Garden is the formal early-Baroque garden of Wallenstein Palace, home to the Czech Parliament’s Senate. Its layout returns to an Italian garden scheme after later alterations and restoration. Clipped hedges divide the space around water, sculpture, and a monumental open garden hall.

At the eastern edge, the sala terrena rises to the same height as the palace’s principal hall; its ceiling frescoes stage the gods of Olympus and heroes of the Trojan War. Along the southern wall, an artificial dripstone cliff contains grottoes and an aviary. The statues here preserve the memory of Adrian de Vries’s ambitious ensemble: Swedish troops carried away the originals in 1648, and copies were installed during the twentieth century. Peacocks roam among the formal planting, while fish and wild water birds inhabit the pond.