Pantheon of the National Museum

The Pantheon of the National Museum is one of the most beautiful halls in the Czech Republic. The architect Josef Schulz (1890) ambitiously designed the architecturally sublime interior of the ceremonial hall. The interior of the Pantheon impresses not only with its overall architectural and artistic design, which includes the decoration of the walls and portals and tiles with a dynamic radial pattern, but also with a portrait gallery of busts and statues of personalities who contributed to the cultural and scientific life of Bohemia. The Pantheon houses a total of 54 bronze statues and busts and two portrait marble busts of the imperial couple, Franz Joseph I and Elisabeth of Bavaria (Antonín P. Wagner, 1891). The vaults are dedicated to the monumental lunettes by František Ženíšek – Přemysl Oráč's Vocation to Rule, St. Methodius Finishing the Translation of the Holy Scriptures at Velehrad before his death in 885 (1903), Václav Brožík – Charles IV. establishes the University of Prague in 1348, and Jan Amos presents his didactic works to the city council of Amsterdam in 1657 (1898), and paintings in pendants by Vojtěch Hynais – Power and Progress, Inspiration, Art and Science (1899–1900). The glass painted dome of the Pantheon with the head of Bohemia in the middle was restored during the reconstruction of the museum (2015–2019) according to the original preserved documentation from the 19th century. From the beginning, the Pantheon Hall served not only for museum purposes, but also for ceremonial gatherings and meetings, and it was also a place where funerals were held and from which the funerals of outstanding personalities of the Czech nation, such as the statesman and second president of the Czechoslovakia Edvard Beneš, politician Karel Kramář, poet Alois Jirásek and writer Eliška Krásnohorská, were set off.

Augmented reality in Pantheon

The virtual augmented reality Pantheon: Living Roots is available to visitors in the National Museum in Your Pocket mobile app. Thanks to the cooperation with Česká spořitelna and the use of modern technologies, it brings a unique experience that connects the past with the present. Through the app, you will be transported into an augmented reality within the premises of the Pantheon of the National Museum, which will introduce you to important personalities of Czech history and allow you to experience a new dimension of a visit to the National Museum. When you enter the Pantheon, open the app and point your mobile device at any point in the Pantheon, you will see an augmented reality of the Pantheon dominated by a mature tree that represents the key historical stories of the Czech Republic: the Story of Truth, the Story of Women, the Story of Money, the Story of Science, the Story of the Homeland. These gradually unfold before you in the form of spoken word and text as you move through the Pantheon. The app also displays, in augmented reality, the Pantheon's various personalities as you point your phone at one of them.