time-honoured castle, but it was greatly damaged. After the end of the Hussite War, Sigismund, during his short reign, undertook some repairs, but the castle remained uninhabited.
The Bohemian Kings, since the time of Wenceslas, resided in the old town on the right bank of the Vltava. This continued up to the reign of Vladislav II. That King, who resided in the buildings known as the Kraluv Dvur, near the powder tower, intimidated by the menaces of his turbulent neighbours, the citizens of the old town, resolved to transfer his residence to the left bank of the Vltava. He crossed the river in a boat at night-time, and sought refuge behind the strong walls of the dilapidated Hradcany, and began to build there a new Royal residence. Some of the oldest parts of the existent building date from his time. Large additions were made by Ferdinand I., Matthias and Rudolph.
Rudolph, like Charles IV., chose Prague as his permanent residence, and he is the last King of Bohemia who lived continuously in his capital. His artistic and scientific tastes, to which reference has already been made, caused him to feel a great desire for solitude. He generally lived in the north wing of the castle, where he established an observatory and vast laboratories for chemical research. On the other hand, he appears to have neglected the portion of the castle that had been built by Vladislav II. He even allowed the far-famed hall of Vladislav-to be turned into a ‘bazaar where various tradesmen exhibited their wares and met to discuss their business.’ Sadeler’s engraving—reproduced in this volume—gives a good idea of the appearance of Vladislav’s hall at this period.
Rudolph accumulated in the Hradcany Castle vast collections, which have long since been dispersed. Though they were plundered by the Saxons in 1632,
