Complex of Strahov Premonstratensian abbey, founded, by the action of Bishop Jindřich Zdík of Olomouc in 1140, by Vladislaus II., consist of two churches, a monastery, monastery’s prelature, library and farm building. Main entrance into the spacious courtyard as well as in the whole area is from Pohořelec through a baroque gate, which was built in 1742 by arch. Anselm Lurag. It is, among others, decorated with sculpture of founder of the Premonstratensian Order, St. Norbert by Jana Antonín Quittainer.
The monastery has a difficult plan with several inner yards and its core is abbey church of Assumption of the Virgin, triple-nave basilica with Romanesque disposition from the second half of 12th century. Huge Renaissance reconstruction proceeded in 1601-1606. Present form of the church is from 1743-1751. Church towers got baroque facades with imperial roofs in repair in 1761 according to project by Anselm Lurag. Towers, 50,5 m high, represent the whole complex of the monastery in remote views on the western Prague horizon.
Strahov monastery has extremely rich history and broad building development as well as a long list of significant persons, who were and worked there. On the south there is a garden adjoining to the monastery, from windows of the building on the east of the complex there is beautiful view of Prague. After reconstruction work in 1950–1953 part of the monastery became seat of Museum of Natural Literature. In the courtyard in front of the entrance into monastery there was placed a high pedestal in 1988, a lion created in the thirties by sculptor Bohumil Kafka.
It is not possible to omit Church of St. Roch in the large courtyard. Single-nave building with three polygonal apsidal recesses was built at the expenses of Emperor Rudolf II in 1603-1612 as a votive cathedral to avert the plague epidemic in 1599. In 1747-1748 church got baroque modifications. In the same courtyard there is standing a stone column from the second half of 17th century and sculpture of bl. Herman from 1750 by J. A. Quittainer. Let’s remark at least one out of many monastery farm buildings – no. 135, previous brewery.
