Wallenstein Garden: Peacocks, Grottoes, and Baroque Magnificence

Why is it significant?

Step through the modest gate into the quiet grandeur of the Wallenstein Garden, feeling the sudden serenity of this aristocratic sanctuary.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Step through the modest gate into the quiet grandeur of the Wallenstein Garden, feeling the sudden serenity of this aristocratic sanctuary. In front of you rises a monumental three-arched Sala Terrena decorated with magnificent classical frescoes, opening onto perfectly manicured gravel pathways flanked by classical bronze statues of mythological gods and heroes cast by Adrian de Vries.

This palace was constructed in the sixteen twenties by Albrecht von Wallenstein, the supremely ambitious supreme commander of the imperial armies. Wallenstein sought to build a palace complex grander than Prague Castle itself, leveling twenty-six houses, six gardens, and two brickworks to clear this immense estate.

Turn toward the bizarre southern boundary of the garden, where an enormous artificial Dripstone Wall mimics a dark stalactite cavern. Look closely at the knobby limestone shapes: embedded within the eerie gray stone are hidden carvings of owls, gargoyle faces, frogs, and coiled serpents, designed as an alchemical contemplation of nature's mysterious prima materia.

Watch the majestic albino peacocks strut across the lawn, flashing their snowy feathers against the dark emerald hedges as you head toward the exit.