The House at the Black Madonna

The House of the Black Madonna, a jewel of Cubism

The Prague audio-guided tour points out to you, at a street corner, the House of the Black Madonna. Under a sober appearance, this large brown building is in fact a major element of the history of Czech Cubism, which fully deserves a stop.

A manifesto of Czech Cubism

Built at the beginning of the 1910s, the House of the Black Madonna is one of the first achievements of architectural Cubism, an original movement specific to Bohemia. Where Cubism was above all a pictorial current elsewhere, the Czech architects applied it to buildings, playing on angles, facets and volumes. The house owes its name to a statue of a Black Madonna, a vestige of an earlier building, set at its corner.

What there is to see

The building today houses a museum devoted to Czech Cubism, as well as a café with cubist decor, the Grand Café Orient, faithful to the spirit of the place. The façade, its windows and its famous statue deserve that you look up. It is a fascinating stop for lovers of twentieth-century architecture and art, a witness to the creative boldness of Prague.

Practical information

The House of the Black Madonna is in the Old Town of Prague, near the Powder Tower. The façade and its statue can be contemplated freely from the street; the Cubism museum and the café follow their own hours and conditions, which may vary with the season.

Why is the House of the Black Madonna important?

It is one of the first achievements of Czech architectural Cubism, an original movement that applied Cubism to buildings.

What does the house hold today?

A museum of Czech Cubism and the Grand Café Orient, with cubist decor, in the Old Town of Prague.