The National Museum at the head of Wenceslas Square was built in 1891 and has the grand staircase that neo-Renaissance civic ambition demands: red carpet, marble columns, gilt lamp stands, painted lunettes, and a glass ceiling that manages the daylight correctly. The building closed for years of renovation and has returned better than it was. The natural history and history collections are deep; the building itself is the reason to arrive early and walk slowly up the stairs before the school groups do.
Wenceslas Square, Prague, Czech Republic