The Most Beautiful Squares, Streets and Monuments in the Czech Republic
5 places · updated 13 October 2026
In short: By our ranking, the most beautiful squares, streets and monuments in the Czech Republic are Dancing House, Prague Astronomical Clock and Golden Lane. The list covers 5 squares, streets and monuments. Last updated 13 October 2026.
Czech towns came through the wars of the 20th century largely intact, so their streets and squares still show every layer of their history, from Gothic and Renaissance to the experiments of modern architecture. Prague is the centre of this inheritance, but provincial towns hold some of its most complete ensembles, and Czech architects kept testing new forms through the 20th century.
The Dancing House in Prague, designed by Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry, leans its glass tower against a solid partner on the Vltava embankment. The Prague Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Hall has marked the hours since 1410, with a procession of apostles appearing at its windows. Golden Lane at Prague Castle lines up tiny brightly painted houses built into the castle walls. Ještěd Tower above Liberec is a hyperboloid television tower and hotel on a mountain summit, and Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce in Telč is a long Renaissance square of arcaded houses with colourful gables.
In this list
| # | Place | Type | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dancing House | Monument | |
| 2 | Prague Astronomical Clock | Clock tower | |
| 3 | Golden Lane | Pedestrian street | |
| 4 | Ještěd Tower | Observation tower | |
| 5 | Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce | Square |
01 Dancing House
Tančící dům
Czech Republic · 1.4 km from Prague50.076° N 14.414° E
Image by pierre9x6 from Pixabay The site has its own history. An apartment building stood here until it was destroyed in the American bombing of Prague in 1945, and the plot lay empty for decades. Next door lived the family of Václav Havel; Milunić, his neighbour, had discussed an idea for the gap as early as 1986, and after the Velvet Revolution made Havel president, the project gained momentum.
Did you know? The building has nine floors above ground and two underground, with almost 3,800 square metres of interior space.
02 Prague Astronomical Clock
Staroměstský orloj
Czech Republic · 0.2 km from Prague50.087° N 14.421° E
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay The astronomical dial is essentially a mechanical astrolabe, a model of the sky as seen from Prague. A blue disc stands for the sky above the horizon and the dark bands below for night, with dawn and twilight marked in between.
Did you know? The false credit to Hanuš goes back to a report written by Jan Táborský, who repaired the clock in 1552; historian Zdeněk Horský later corrected it.
03 Golden Lane
Zlatá ulička
Czech Republic · 1.5 km from Prague50.092° N 14.404° E
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 The name has attracted a romantic legend that Rudolf's alchemists laboured here to turn base metal into gold. Nothing confirms it, and Czech historians regard the tale as very unlikely for such a poor corner of the castle. The more sober explanation is that goldsmiths lived in the lane in the seventeenth century; others suggest the name came from the gold braid on the guards' uniforms.
Did you know? House No. 13 alone still fits within the depth of the wall arch, as the original rule required, so its front does not project into the lane.
04 Ještěd Tower
Ještěd
Czech Republic · 10.1 km from Liberec50.733° N 14.985° E
Image by ivabalk from Pixabay It exists because of a fire. The older wooden mountain hotel on the summit burned down in January 1963, and its replacement was entrusted to Karel Hubáček, one of the founders of the Liberec architectural studio SIAL. Working with the structural engineer Zdeněk Patrman, he designed the tower between 1963 and 1966; construction took until 1973, and the building opened on 9 July that year.
Did you know? The laminate panels around the antennas are joined without any metal fittings, because metal would block the broadcast signals.
05 Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce
Czech Republic · 25.8 km from Jihlava49.184° N 15.454° E
Image by xmax88 from Pixabay The square takes its name from Zachariáš of Hradec (1526/7–1589), the humanist nobleman who presided over the town's golden age. The lords of Hradec had acquired Telč in 1339 and built a castle, fortifications and Gothic houses around the market place; a fire in 1386 destroyed the western half of the square together with the church and town hall.
Did you know? Besides rebuilding the town, Zachariáš founded fishponds, guilds, a hospital and a new water supply, turning Telč into a prosperous estate centre.
How this list is ranked
Places are chosen for how they look, not for how famous they are: each one has its own description and a photograph credited to its author. The order is a single world ranking that weighs the beauty of the place in curated photography together with how widely it is documented — the number of language editions of its encyclopedia article and how often that article is read in a year. The list is rebuilt as places are added, so the order and the counts on this page are always current.
Questions people ask
- What are the most beautiful squares, streets and monuments in the Czech Republic?
- On our list, Dancing House ranks first, followed by Prague Astronomical Clock and Golden Lane.
- How old is the Prague Astronomical Clock?
- Its oldest part dates from 1410, which makes it the oldest astronomical clock in the world that is still operating.
- Who lived in Golden Lane?
- The little houses were built for castle guards and craftsmen. Franz Kafka worked in the house at number 22, which belonged to his sister, in 1916 and 1917.
- Why is the Dancing House called Fred and Ginger?
- Its two towers, one of glass and one of stone, suggest a pair of dancers, and the nickname refers to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
- How many squares, streets and monuments are on this list in the Czech Republic?
- The list covers 5 squares, streets and monuments.