Walking up the south stairs of Prague Castle from Lesser Town is an interesting way to discover the famous Castle with some nice view points over the city. As you can see above and in the first panorama of this 360° virtual tour of Prague Castle, looking back over the stairs towards the rising sunlight above Prague is a true gift never to be forgotten if you had the chance to stroll around the capital of the Czech Republic. We present here a few outside panoramic images of the Castle and surroundings, leaving out multiple things and places inside the many buildings of the castle complex. Shooting panoramic photographs in high profile buildings interiors involves a completely different strategy and special authorizations as you may know.
Click here for a 360° virtual tour of Prague Castle. Photography by Jean-Pierre Lavoie and all rights reserved. Please contact us for panoramic images and VR content licensing.
The Prague Castle deserves to be on top of a list of sites to see for a first time visitor. This UNESCO World Heritage site was founded over a millennium ago in the 9th century and is one of the world biggest castle complex in the world.
From the top of the stairs sits the main entrance of Prague Castle at the gate opening on the First Courtyard. The square in front of the Castle is opened and large with an empowering view on the other side of the city and on the Petrin tower hill on the south.
After visiting the Second Courtyard, where sits the Chapel of the Holy Rood hosting a permanent exhibition of the Treasure of St. Vitus, we enter the Third Courtyard. Upon entry and right in front of us stands the large St. Vitus Cathedral which appears suddenly as it is very close to the Courtyard entrance. The illusion of grandeur is re-enforced also most likely because St. Vitus is enclosed within nearby buildings and walls. Moving to the south side of the Cathedral where the courtyard area is larger let the visitor see the monument from a greater distance, thus giving a more natural look an appreciation of the perspective and size of the building.
On the opposite side of the back of the Cathedral lays another church, St. George’s Basilica of Romanesque style with a baroque facade. Then, a short walk on Jirska street near the Basilica takes us to the entrance of the picturesque Golden Lane on the northern edge area of the Castle. In the 17th century, goldsmiths used to live and work in small houses on this narrow hidden street of the Castle. Golden Lane was also called the Street of Alchemists at some time, although no real alchemist actually lived there apparently. Today we can peek inside those small houses and intriguing tiny rooms with a strange feeling. All the history that took place within these walls is fascinating thinking about the legend of people living there that tried to transform matter into gold! House 12 at the east end of Golden Lane belong to amateur film historian and collector Josef Kazda where there is an exhibition on the history of cinema.
After reaching the end of Golden Lane, a stairs is taking us to Dorbolka Tower which is another anachronism of our time. This tower was in fact a prison and a dungeon with torture apparatus that are still displayed today. Your mind is twisted back in time lingering again about what happened within these walls and all the events that may happened in the tower.
Finally, the Castle is surrounded by opulent and elegant gardens with, again as you may expect by now, wonderful views on the Czech capital. There is the Paradise Garden on the south and then the Rampart Garden that are literally a garden perched on higher ground around the Castle. This completes the circle enclosing the Castle and our short virtual tour of the majestuous Prague Castle.
More from Prague: You may be interested to read more from Prague in our story and virtual tour of Charles Bridge.