Emperor Rudolf II

Addresses you can still visit

Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.

• Created here

  Archbishop’s Palace

  Rudolf supported the palace’s Renaissance-era development and imposed his preferred candidate in the disputed 1606 archiepiscopal succession.

• Created here

  Church of Saint Roch at Strahov

  Rudolf II vowed and financed the church as thanks for the ending of the 1599 plague epidemic.

• Created here

  Imperial Stables at Prague Castle

  The stable wings were established at Prague Castle during Rudolf II’s reign for the imperial court’s horses.

• Created here

  Old Hradčany Town Hall

  Rudolf’s 1598 privilege made Hradčany a royal town and prompted the establishment of its town hall.

• Created here

  Rosenberg Palace

  Rudolf acquired the palace in 1600 and had it connected to the royal residence by a wooden passageway.

• Created here

  Spanish Hall at Prague Castle

  The emperor commissioned the hall to display sculpture and stage ceremonies at his Prague court.

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  Burial place

  St. Vitus Cathedral

  The cathedral contains the tomb of Wenceslas, the murdered Přemyslid ruler whose brother seized power after his death in 935. Charles IV later dedicated the Bohemian crown to the dead saint, meaning that subsequent kings symbolically borrowed their authority from an assassination victim buried beneath the chapel floor.