Founded in 1140 the Strahov Monastery looks down from Petrin Hill over the area of Mala Strana. Destroyed by fire in 1258, it was rebuilt in Gothic style with Baroque additions later.
Still a working monastery, it has a famous library, one of the oldest collections in the country. It is over 800 years old, and despite being ransacked by invading armies, it still holds over 16,000 books. In other buildings within its complex there are several art galleries & collections