Come to the Carolinum Open Day

Five years after the last Open Day, the premises of the historic main building of Charles University, the Carolinum, will again be open to the public. The open day will take place on Saturday and Sunday, 6 and 7 April 2013, on the occasion of the 665^th anniversary of the founding of the first institution of higher education in Central Europe. The Open Day will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Great Aula

The main building of the oldest university in the Czech Republic will once again be open to visitors in all its beauty, including representative and meeting-rooms, such as e.g. the mázhaus, Emperor’s Hall, Patriots’ Hall and, obviously, the Great Aula, where many important academic ceremonies (graduation, matriculation, awarding of honorary doctorates, etc.) take place. One of the biggest attractions of the tour will undoubtedly be the display of the university insignia, including the Rector’s mace and the maces of the individual faculties. Visitors will also get to visit the Romanesque and Gothic cellars, where they can see, amongst other things, the unique Romanesque well from the pre-university period – one of the oldest in Prague. The cellar area is also host to an exhibition on the major milestones in the history of CU, describing the milieu of Prague studium generale, teaching and the structural development of the oldest preserved university building – the Carolinum. The beauty of the unique architecture, drawn from virtually all architectural periods, is enhanced by the extensive art gallery, which, apart from paintings from the Baroque period, also includes a gallery of portraits of the rectors of Charles University.

The tour route, leading throughout the entire complex, will be accessible all day long and employees of the Institute of the History of Charles University and Archive of Charles University will be on hand to answer any questions that visitors may have. Due to the fact that, for organisational reasons, visitors can only be admitted to the Carolinum in small groups, anyone still queuing at the entrance at 4 p.m. will also be admitted.

Open Days do not have a long tradition at Charles University; the university grounds have only been opened to the public in this extent on a few occassions: after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, in April 1995, just before the start of the refurbishment process and on four more occasions in subsequent years.

The entrance for visitors will be at Železná Street 9 and the tour will exit to Ovocný trh no. 3. The public will be allowed to view the refurbished premises of the historic Carolinum complex, a unique Czech national monument ranking just behind the Prague Castle complex.

This event has been organised by CU in response to considerable public interest – the Carolinum was visited by over 5,000 people on the last Open Day.

Part of the route is barrier-free and priority access will be given to the physically disabled.