Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička)

King Vladislav II built the walls in the late 1400s. But the street started on September 16, 1597. Emperor Rudolf II let 24 marksmen build modest shacks in the arches. By the 1600s, the shooters left. Goldsmiths moved in. That’s how it became Zlatá ulička. Rent was dirt cheap in the early 1900s. Franz Kafka wrote in House 22 from 1916 to 1917. Nobel winner Jaroslav Seifert lived here in 1929. Architect Pavel Janák restored the whole strip between 1952 and 1955.

Military need built this street. King Vladislav II Jagiello wanted a strong north wall for the castle. He got it. In 1597, Rudolf II let 24 "red musket" guards build quarters in the stone arches. They had rules. No windows facing out. They used cheap mud, stone, or wood. The result? Tiny rooms forced into a fortress. These men paid for their own shacks. They lived on top of each other.

Each house was about 400 centimeters wide. They shared one toilet. They carried water from the castle square. It was tough. But it kept the guards right next to their posts. They were the castle's front line.

Life here was vertical. The houses couldn't grow out, so they went up. You enter a low door into a kitchen. It's small. Every inch counted. Check the floor. You'll see hatches for cellars where they kept food for winter. Look up. Folding ladders led to the sleeping lofts. Whole families slept there. Sometimes they even squeezed in lodgers.

Fresh air was rare. Rules banned outside windows. Most homes had one small pane facing the alley. Your view depended on your luck. You either saw the sky or the wall of the house opposite. It was a tight, tough community. They looked out for each other.

The marksmen left in the 17th century. Artisans took over. Goldsmiths loved it here. They were inside the castle walls, so city guild laws didn't apply. The street became Zlatnická ulička. Later, people shortened it to Golden Lane.

Then came the legends. People say Emperor Rudolf II’s alchemists lived here. They claim Edward Kelley and John Dee tried to make gold in these shacks. It's a myth. Real alchemists lived in much nicer quarters. The "gold" in the name comes from the jewelers. But the occult vibe stayed. In the early 1900s, a doctor named Uhle lived here. He blew his money on magic books. He died in a fire while holding a piece of gold. Or so the story goes.

Franz Kafka is the street’s most famous resident. He used House 22 between 1916 and 1917. It’s the blue one. His sister Ottla rented it as a hideout. Kafka loved it. He escaped the noise of his family’s Old Town flat. The silence helped him focus.

House 22 is tiny. It’s just one room with a view of the Stag Moat. Kafka told his fiancée it was special to shut out the world. He’d work his day job, eat, and write here until midnight.

This was his peak. He wrote most of A Country Doctor in this cramped room. The castle’s walls and bureaucracy likely inspired his book The Castle. Now, House 22 is a bookstore. Go inside. It still feels like a sanctuary.