On the Royal Mile

The Royal Mile, or King’s Road (Kralovska cesta in Czech), was the route a future king had to take on the way to his crowning in the St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle. It has remained unchanged since about the 15th Century. Czech royals lived at the so-called King’s Court (today’s Municipal House) and rode to their coronation from the Powder Gate, through Celetna Street, across Old Town Square and through Nerudova Street up to Hradcanske Namesti (Hradcany Square), to St. Vitus Cathedral.

The building The Golden Wheel Hotel stands in Nerudova Street, which has preserved its baroque character to this day, including original building signs, and remains as the most beautiful route up to the Prague Castle. It was originally named Ostruhova (Spur) Street, apparently because while riding its uphill slant on a horse, one often had to use spurs. The writer Jan Neruda, after whom the street is now named, lived near our hotel, at the house U Dvou Sluncu (The Two Suns).

History of the building The Golden Wheel

The first records of a building at this location go back all the way to the end of the 15th Century. In 1541, after a major fire destroyed almost three quarters of the Lesser Quarter in three hours, the building “The Golden Wheel” underwent a through renovation. At the end of the 17th Century, the building was owned by the painter Kristian Dittman, who performed another major renovation and also added another floor. Roughly a hundred years later, in 1814, the building is already mentioned in the Land Registry as having four floors and from that time onwards has stayed practically unchanged. You can see this for yourself on Langweil’s unique model of Prague from the years 1826 – 1835 at the Prague City Museum.
The current appearance of the hotel “The Golden Wheel” is the result of a sensitive renovation of the baroque building, whose intentions were to conserve and revitalize its authentic charm. Thus inside you will find, for example, an original medieval well, or the chimney of a so-called black kitchen – from times when cooking was done on an open fire.