Open House Prague Starts on May 16: 101 Buildings Usually Not Accessible Open for FREE!

The 8th Open House Prague, a festival that celebrates Prague’s architecture, is taking place on May 16–22, 2022.

On the weekdays, there is a number of accompanying events – concerts, lectures, discussions, exhibitions, and guided
walks. On the weekend of May 21–22, 101 buildings and spaces that are not usually accessible are open for free.

Visitors are welcome in the information center of the festival, located on Železná 492/18, Prague 1, where they can purchase the festival guide and merchandise.

The opening hours are Monday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The full program is available here

The program features 101 buildings, including 26 new participants, 57 cultural monuments, and an eventful accompanying program, which celebrates several anniversaries of significant architects, such as Jože Plečnik.

In the neighborhood of Vinohrady sits one of his most outstanding pieces of work, the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, featuring Egyptian and early Christian architectural elements.

English Tours

Because Open House Prague also attracts visitors from foreign countries and long-term residents of Prague, the organizers have arranged a number of guided tours in English in selected buildings.

These include the City Mayor’s Residency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, the Church of St. Anne – Prague Crossroads, DISK Theater, Na Zábradlí Theater, the Ericsson Palace, the Štenc House.

The availability of English tours is indicated in the description of each building on the festival’s website, and the tours take place continually during opening hours. As part of the accompanying program on the weekend, there are two special English tours in the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry on Saturday, May 21 (at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.). All the open buildings can be found here.

Open Buildings

Many buildings are participating for the first time ever, such as the Sokol Gymnasium in Libeň and the nearby Church of St. Adalbert, one of the few churches in the Czech lands built in the style of Art Nouveau.

Other first-time participants include EA Hotel Juliš on Wenceslas Square, the Clubhouse of the Autoclub of the Czech Republic, and the Adria Palace designed by Pavel Janák, an architect whose 140th anniversary of birth we are celebrating this year as well.

The organizers are also opening the Cubist apartment building Diamant and the former Gráf Hotel, now I. P. Pavlova 5, where visitors can climb up to the roof and see Prague from above.

For the first time ever, numerous buildings are also opening in the districts of Zbraslav and Komořany, such as the former washhouse, Church of the Hus Congregation, bell foundry, or the premises of the Czech Hydrometeorological
Institute.

Organization of the Festival

Admission to all the open buildings is free and no prior registration is required, with one exception (Thun Palace). The tours are arranged in collaboration with the owners, managers, and employees of the institutions and companies which are located in the open buildings, along with the help of hundreds of volunteers. Anyone can join our volunteer
program and experience the festival from a different perspective!

The application form is available here.

Information on the program is also available on our Facebook event Open House Praha 2022.