National Museum of the Czech Republic

The museum was founded in 1818, in those times when the Czech nation did not have its own statehood. That is why the museum became a treasury of history, nature and culture of the Czech people, and also a symbol. It has kept the same meaning by nowadays.

The main, or as it is often called, the Historical Building of the museum was built in 1891 by the Czech architect Josef Schultz in the form of a palace in the Neo-Renaissance style. The decoration of its interior was entrusted to Bohuslav Dvořák, an artist well-known in the country. The height of the building is more than 70 m, and the length of the facade is 100 m. The building is decorated with five domes: four of them are at the corners and one dome is in the center. Under the central dome the Pantheon hall is located. Collection of busts and sculptures of outstanding figures of the Czech Republic is exhibited there. The building of the National Museum is situated in the very center of Prague at the head of Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí 68, Praha 1). The Historical Building is now connected by an underground corridor with the so-called New Building of the museum (the former building of the Czech Parliament).

The National Museum is the largest museum in the Czech Republic, and the only one with national status. Its collection includes more than 20 million items. Most of them are exhibited in the main building.

The permanent exhibitions of the museum have been created during 2019-2021 after a major reconstruction of the Historical Building. Each exhibition is designed on the base of a conceptual solution and occupies several halls. Modern multimedia technologies are used there, such as augmented and virtual reality, 3D modeling, video mapping, animation etc. In many halls, large-format videos on the topic of the exhibition are presented. Light and sound effects are also used to create a special atmosphere. All exhibitions are designed for both adult and children's audiences, they have many interactive displays, tactile exhibits, quests and games.

The museum has a mobile application "National Museum in your pocket", which offers audioguides in different languages, including Ukrainian. In the application you can also learn about the famous exhibits of the National Museum, buy tickets and easily navigate in the huge museum complex (online navigation is available).

Download link: https://www.nm.cz/narodni-muzeum-v-kapse

Nowadays, the National Museum of the Czech Republic is a complex of a dozen museums located in various districts of Prague and beyond. It includes: Historical Museum, Natural History Museum, Czech Museum of Music, Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Ethnographic Museum, Antonín Dvořák Museum, Bedřich Smetana Museum, František Palacki and František Ladislav Rieger Memorial, Jaroslav Ježek Memorial (the Blue Room), Lapidary of the National Museum, and National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill.

The National Museum Library, founded in 1818, is also a part of the museum. Nowadays, it is the second largest library of the Czech Republic that stores rare historical books, manuscripts and old prints.

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