The Lapidarium, Stromovka, Prague, Czech Republic

A random tram journey through suburban Prague on route 5 took me to Stromovka, where I jumped off out of sheer curiosity to find out what on earth was a grandiose building which turned out to be the Industrial Palace of the 1891 exhibition:  http://www.prague-guide.co.uk/articles/the-exhibition-ground-and-stromovka-park.html.

The huge expanse around it was virtually deserted.  One building which looked semi-derelict but open turned out to be the Lapidarium [http://www.prague-guide.co.uk/articles/lapidarium—branch-of-national-gallery.html], the Czech National Gallery’s home for old statues.

Here is gathered a plethora of baroque saints and bishops waving their arms about and carrying on – or as my mother would have said “showing off”.  The baroque style is essentially theatrical, so the figures which adorn church interiors, rooftops and the King Charles Bridge camp themselves silly.

It’s a delightful experience to stroll among statues from nine centuries – the noisest, liveliest gathering of figures, totally silent and frozen in time.