The Roof Architecture and the Renaissance Make-up of Prague Towns during the reign of the King and Emperor Ferdinand I
Abstract
During the reign of Ferdinand I (1527-1564), in the Bohemian Lands and Prague, the Renaissance began to be fully applied, being manifested in various ways. The builders, using the new architectural vocabulary, to some extent followed the characteristic motifs of medieval architecture.
The tall gable ends of the houses received Renaissance features in shape of swallow tails, which still resembled the Gothic stepped gables. Similarly the earlier towers were used for new purposes such as viewing points in a form of pavilions or galleries with decorative crenellation.
Other motifs of the roof architecture, giving Prague a new look, were horizontal gables, formed by semicircles or swallow tails. The town vedute present large numbers of these features, unfortunately most have since been demolished especially in the Malá Strana and Hradčany districts, newly constructed after the fire 1541.