An inseparable part of the Prague panorama is the complex of the Strahov Monastery with the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary. The Baroque church was built on the site of a 12th century Romanesque basilica. It houses the remains of St Norbert, the founder of the Premonstratensian order. On the north side of the vast Strahov courtyard stands the Gothic church of St. Roch, built in the early 17th century by the architect Giovanni Mario Filippi at the expense of Emperor Rudolf II in gratitude for the prevention of the plague.
The pride of the Strahov Monastery is the Strahov Library with the Theological Hall, designed by the architect Giovanni Domenico Orsi. The cylindrical vault of the hall has early Baroque stucco decorations and early 18th century paintings by the artist František Christian Nosecki. The Philosopher's Hall is decorated with a ceiling painting "History of Mankind" by Antonín František Maulbertsch, a Viennese Rococo artist.
The gallery surrounding the courtyard of the monastery houses a magnificent collection of Czech and European art from the Gothic and Renaissance periods.
