Troja Palace

The palace sits on the Vltava’s bank and faces a terraced French garden that rises behind the main building. The ensemble combines a central apartment block with lower garden terraces and flanking wings, and the landscape axis of the garden is aligned toward the towers of St. Vitus Cathedral on Prague Castle. The garden complex includes a terraced slope, an adjacent orchard, an orangery, a planted labyrinth, multiple fountains and statues, and a vineyard known as Sainte‑Claire. The terrace area measures about 3.35 hectares, the orchard about 4.32 hectares, and the vineyard about 3.5 hectares.

The palace exterior displays a contrasting red-on-white painting scheme that articulates structural elements against white wall surfaces. The roofline is punctuated by two towers on the lateral wings that rise slightly above the central roof. A broad, two‑flight stone staircase links the main building with the terraced gardens; the stair is populated with sculptural groups representing a combat between gods and giants executed for this setting.

Terrace ornament includes a notable series of terracotta vases modelled with festoons, heraldic motifs and imperial portrait busts, and matching vases also appear along parts of the garden walls. These terracotta pieces form a decorative belt along the principal terrace and the retaining walls that frame the lower parterres.

Inside, the principal reception chamber is entirely covered with illusionistic Baroque painting that stages an apotheosis of the ruling dynasty. The ceiling depicts the celestial realm with heavenly figures and protectors of the lands, while the walls show the terrestrial world, curved surfaces filled with angels and putti, and a long grisaille band that presents sculptural likenesses of rulers. Narrative scenes include a triumphal depiction of Emperor Leopold I’s victory over the Ottoman forces and a painted illusion of a falling Ottoman figure. Additional rooms carry oil paintings and murals by other hands from the same period, and the chapel ceiling and related canvases display a dramatic, Caravaggesque manner that celebrates the palace patron and his wife.

The complex survived into the 20th century in poor condition, was acquired by the state in 1922, and underwent restoration work beginning in the 1970s. The building now stands restored, its key frescoes, sculptures and terracotta terrace ornaments preserved in situ, while interior spaces serve as exhibition rooms for 19th‑century Czech paintings and for a wine museum in several halls.