Exterior view

Before the Dientzenhofer family of architects made its appearance , the aristocracy of Bohemia and Moravia had favoured buildings on the Italianate mode. Count Cernin, who had visited Rome several times, desired a prestigious building “in the Roman style.” His palace in Prague was constructed between 1668 and 1677 by Francesco Caratti in the Palladian manner. A solid rusticated ground floor terminating in a balustrade supports a two-storey upper building surmounted by a mezzanine floor. The whole front is articulated by giant columns.