Invalidovna

Invalidovna (French "hôtel des invalides") is a building in Karlín, a district of Prague.

For the Prague Metro station, see Invalidovna (Prague Metro).
Front view

History

Invalidovna was built in 1731–1737 as a dormitory for war invalids (veterans) by Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer. Its model was Les Invalides, a building for veterans inaugurated in Paris in 1679.[1]

Only a ninth of the original design was ever completed. At most, about 1,200 inmates lived there. In 1935, all inhabitants moved to another "invalidovna", at Hořice, and the building was used by the Czech army. After this, it was used as an army archive. The building was damaged by a large flood in 2002,[2] and most of the archive materials were destroyed.[3] The building currently awaits an expensive reconstruction. One possible future use is as an open space for culture and social life.

The Invalidovna complex has served as a filming location for several notable movies, including the 1984 American drama film Amadeus directed by Miloš Forman, and Guillermo del Toro's 2004 film Hellboy. In 2023, Robert Eggers chose Invalidovna as one of the filming locations for his new adaptation of Nosferatu, a modern interpretation of the classic vampire tale.[4]

Transport

The metro station Invalidovna is named after this building.

References
  1. Pavitt, Jane (2000). Prague. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-3916-4.
  2. "Study: Floods that hit Czechia in 2002 were unique in Central Europe". Radio Prague International. 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  3. Miloš F. Drdácký. "Flood Damage to Historic Buildings and Structures" (PDF). Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities: 441.
  4. "'Nosferatu' now filming at Prague's historic Invalidovna complex". The Prague Reporter. 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Invalidovna (Prague).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.