Prague Diary: What Municipal House?

Prasna Brana & Obeci Dum

This is the Municipal House (or Obecní dům) in Prague. Now I don't know about you but the name does not quite conjure the image of an exquisitely pretty building that houses one of the best theaters in the city. This beautiful Art Nouveau building is as beautiful inside as it is outside and glitters like gold. It houses classical music and other concerts inside its many beautiful and big halls -- most notable of them being the amazing Smetana Hall. The building was constructed in the early 1900s.

The ancient gothic tower called the Powder Tower (Prašná brána) on the left marks the entrance to the Old Town of Prague and was built around the 1490s. It is one of the 13 or so gates that are scattered all over the expanse of the Old Town (Staré Město.)

The photo above is taken using the Canon 16-35 mm wide-angle lens opened almost all the way at 17mm. That width on a full-frame censor creates an almost comic barrel-distortion but does manage to pull the entire scene in. I debated whether to attempt to fix the distortion in post-processing but decided it was not worth the attempt.