Open since 1883, the Museum of the Capital City of Prague exists to teach the general public about the history of the capital city.
The main building of the museum was originally a cafe pavilion on the boundary between Karlín and New Town that, however, was not sufficient in its size and prestige for the purposes of the museum and so the current building was built that opened its door to its visitors in 1900. In the museum you can see, for example, the famous Langweil's model of Prague that depicts Old Town, Lesser Town and Prague Castle at the turn of the 20th century. This paper model captures the look of more than 2,000 buildings in the 1:480 ratio including all details such as facade decorations. The permanent exhibition is divided into several parts: Prague in antiquity, Medieval Prague, Prague at the Turn of the Middle Ages and Modern Times, Baroque Prague, and Primer of the Visitors of Sights that is dedicated to unique architectural monuments. In the basement of the museum there is a 3D cinema thanks to which you can become a virtual tourist of Prague at the beginning of the 19th century and fly above the Langweil's digitalized model. The museum is open every day except Mondays from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. The Museum of the Capital City of Prague comprises also the Podskalí customs house at Výtoň, the Müller Villa, Ctěnice chateau, and various Prague towers.