Charles University campus tour: the Carolinum and student Prague

Charles University was founded in 1348 by Charles IV, King of Bohemia and later Holy Roman Emperor, which makes it the oldest university in Central Europe. It has never had a campus. Its faculties occupy palaces, former colleges and early 20th-century institute buildings across the historic centre of Prague, so a tour of the university is also a walk through the Old Town and along the river. This guide links the main sites into one route and explains how student life works.

How the university is spread out

Three areas matter most for a visitor:

• The Old Town: the Carolinum, the university's ceremonial seat, and a short walk away the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Law on the riverbank.
• Albertov and Karlov: a quarter of science and medical institutes in the south of the New Town, not far from the old fortress of Vyšehrad.
• Across the river and beyond: mathematics and physics have a historic building in the Lesser Town, and newer science buildings stand further out.

Most of the university's faculties are in Prague, but it also has faculties in the cities of Hradec Králové and Plzeň, so check where a programme is taught.

The Carolinum

The Carolinum has been the university's home since the 1380s, when King Wenceslas IV gave it a large Gothic house in the Old Town. The complex has been rebuilt many times, in Baroque style in the 18th century and again after the Second World War, but one corner still shows its medieval origin: a richly carved Gothic oriel window, the bay of the old college chapel, which juts out over the street. It is one of the best pieces of Gothic stonework in Prague.

The building stands next to the Estates Theatre, where Mozart conducted the first performance of Don Giovanni.

The Great Hall

The heart of the Carolinum is the Great Hall, where matriculation and graduation ceremonies are held. Graduates take their oath on the university's ceremonial mace before the rector and deans in their gowns. Behind them hangs a large tapestry based on the university's medieval seal: Charles IV kneeling before Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. A bronze statue of the founder stands beside it.

The interiors are in constant use and are not generally open to casual visitors, though the university opens them on special occasions and holds exhibitions in the Carolinum's vaulted Gothic corridor.

A history tied to the country's

Few universities have been so closely bound up with national history. Jan Hus, the church reformer, was rector here in the early 15th century. For much of the 19th century the university was divided into Czech and German halves; Albert Einstein taught at the German university for a short period before the First World War, and Tomáš Masaryk, later the first president of Czechoslovakia, was a professor at the Czech one.

On 17 November 1939 the occupying German authorities closed the Czech universities after student protests, a date since marked around the world as International Students' Day. Fifty years later to the day, a student march in memory of those events set out from Albertov; its violent suppression that evening set off the Velvet Revolution.

Jan Palach Square and the Faculty of Arts

Ten minutes' walk west of the Carolinum, the Faculty of Arts faces the river and the Rudolfinum concert hall across Jan Palach Square. Palach was a student of the faculty who set himself on fire in January 1969 in protest against the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia and the resignation that followed it. A memorial to him is set into the facade of the building.

From the square, the view across the river takes in Prague Castle. A little downstream, at the next bridge, the large Faculty of Law building stands directly on the embankment.

The Clementinum, the vast former Jesuit college between the Carolinum and the river, was once part of the university and now houses the National Library. Its Baroque library hall and tower are shown on guided tours.

Albertov and the Botanical Garden

South of the centre, in a quiet valley, Albertov is a street of dignified institute buildings from the early 20th century, shared by the Faculty of Science and the First Faculty of Medicine. A plaque recalls the marches of 1939 and 1989. Next to it, on a sheltered slope, is the university's Botanical Garden, with outdoor collections that work as a neighbourhood park and a set of greenhouses.

What student life is like

Students live in university dormitories, most of them in residential districts some way from the centre, or in shared flats, and travel by tram and metro. University canteens serve inexpensive lunches near all the main sites. The Old Town is crowded with visitors, so student life tends to gather in districts such as Žižkov, Vinohrady and Letná, and on the river islands and embankments in summer. The student festival Majáles, traditionally held in May, brings concerts and a parade.

Most programmes are taught in Czech. There is also a wide choice of degrees taught in English, particularly in medicine.

Visiting as a prospective student

You can see the exterior of the Carolinum, the faculty buildings and the Botanical Garden on your own. The university runs an information centre near the Carolinum and has held open days at its faculties, usually separately for each faculty. Check Charles University's official pages, and the page of the faculty you are interested in, for dates and details.

Getting there and around

• By air: Prague's airport is connected to the city by bus and metro; allow 40 minutes or more to the centre.
• By train: international trains arrive at the main station, a short tram or metro ride from the Old Town.
• In town: the Carolinum is a few minutes' walk from the Old Town Square. The Faculty of Arts is beside a metro station, and trams run south to Albertov.

Where families usually stay

The Old Town and New Town are closest to the university, with Vinohrady and the Lesser Town as quieter alternatives. See our guide to where to stay in Prague.

Practical tips

• Walk the route in order: Carolinum, Jan Palach Square, the Faculty of Law, then a tram to Albertov.
• Fit the university into a longer visit with our Prague in two days itinerary.
• Comparing universities in the region? See our campus tours of the University of Vienna and Humboldt University of Berlin, both a direct train ride away.

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Cover photo: VitVit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons