The Black Madonna house

The very first Cubist building in Prague was originally constructed as a department store with a café on the site of a demolished Baroque building. Only the Black Madonna, which gave its name to the new structure in 1912, remains and can still be seen behind a golden grille on the building’s corner. The facade is adorned with a grand entrance featuring a grille, balconies, and corner bay windows – all in a distinctive Cubist design. Architect Josef Gočár is also responsible for the interiors of the building, including the café on the first floor. However, over the years, the spaces of the Grand Café Orient underwent various renovations, and it was not until the beginning of the new millennium that they were successfully reconstructed based on period photographs. It is likely the only Cubist café in the world. Inside, visitors can enter through a unique staircase with the atypical shape of a light bulb.