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One of the most beautiful and well preserved Renaissance palaces in Prague is situated near Prague Castle on the Hradcanske square. The palace is easily recognizable by its rich black-and-white sgraffito decorations on its walls.
The transformation of medieval Prague into a Renaissance city was accelerated by a great fire of the Lesser Town, Hradcany and Prague Castle in 1541. After the fire many originally civic houses were rebuilt in aristocratic residences, among them the Schwarzenberg Palace, Martinic Palace and Palace of the lords of Hradec, all of them with rich embellished sgraffito façades.
Schwarzenberg Palace stands on the area of three buildings that were destroyed by the fire. The ruins were bought by Jan Popel Lobkowicz, one of the richest noblemen in Bohemia and later on Prague's highest burgrave. The main building, in T-shape, was built in 1567, the western wing was finished several years later. The walls of the palace enclose a square courtyard divided from the Hradcanske square by a wall and a grille gate.
The palace was built by the Italian Agostino Galli, who originally designed a typical Italian palazzo with wings around a square courtyard. However, the decorated wall surfaces show the strong local influences.
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