The basis of Golden Lane is an irregular strip of land varying in with from four to eight metres between the older, Romanesque wall from the 12" century, and the later walls that form the outer north fortification of Prague Castle on the edge of a natural ravine known as the Stag Moat.

Work on the north fortification of Prague Castle was begun by the architect Benedikt Ried shortly after 1484, when King Vladislav Jagiellon decided to leave the Old Town and settle at the Castle.

Attached to the Castle wall (up to zocm thick) were three defence towers: The Powder Tower (or Mihulka) on the west side, the Dalibor Tower (Daliborka) on the east, and between them the White Tower.

Between Daliborka and the White Tower, the castle wall on the moat side was buttressed by an arcade with twelve identical vaults, each of which was about 12ocm deep and 00 to bbocm wide.

These half-built spaces were used as simple makeshift dwellings. The oldest written reports about them are from the isbos, when the lane was called "Zatnick ulicka" (Goldsmith's Lane).

Its residents were probably lesser goldsmiths who had fled the guild laws which were being strictly enforced in all three towns of Prague at the time (Old Town, New Town, and Lesser Town).

No substantial repairs were carried out on the northerm castle wall until 1591-94, during the reign of Rudolf Il.

At that time, the upper arcade structure rose to the level of today's Golden Lane.

There were now 21 arches between the White tower and aliborka, each 40ocm wide and 22ocm deep on average.

They were separated by pillars about a metre wide. Above them, a walled defence passage with a raftered ceiling was built. The earlier houses were undoubtedly torn down at that time, and their remnants vanished into the raised rampart of the moat.

In 1597 the rileymen at the gate of Prague Caste aked Emper Rudfil for permisin to build lite rom within the newly repaired wall, which would take up only the depth of the niches.

In a decree, dated 16th September 1597, Rudolf allowed them to be built.

The "Red Artillerymen", as they were nicknamed because of the colour of their uniform, did not, however, receive the dwellings as gifts.

They had them built at their own expense and also bought and sold them, first amongst themselves, and then with others who were not members of their corps.

At first, these included various employees of the Castle (such as gatekeepers, guards, and bell-ringers) and later, people who did not live in Golden Lane but rented the little houses to others.

It was not long before the little houses began to expand into the lane with their additions and fireplaces.

New additions were made also in the adjacent Romanesque wall and the wall of the Lord High Burgraves resideme. The street ultimately became so cramped that in some places it was less than a metre wide.

Soon afterwards, in the slum clearance of 1864, all those extensions, stalls, and wooden sheds that had stood on the posite side of the lane were demolished, and only the little houses along the north wall were left standing.

After World War I the Office of the Czechoslovak Presidemt expropriated the little houses from theirowners.

The overall arrangement of Golden Lane was completed in 1955 under the direction of the architect Pavel Janák. The colours of the facades were chosen by the painter and animator Jiri Trnka.

The last general reconstruction of Golden Lane was carried out in 2010 - 2011 when a new drainage system was built and the paving was renewed. The tiny houses were underpinned and repaired. Many valuable elements were also restored in the Defence Passage and in the White Tower. All of the colour facades designed by Trnka were renewed.

Music "Time Cycle" by Lukas Foss; Adele Addison; Leonard Bernstein.

Publication date 1961

entitled - IV - O Mensch, Gib Acht

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